Influenza and bronchitic diseases are the most common between people in winter, but there is another case that affects hands and feet, and does not grab the attention of many, called Raynaud's syndrome.
Do you feel severe pain in your hands and feet and notice their color change in winter? These are symptoms that many people suffer from when exposed to cold weather due to Raynaud's syndrome.
What is Raynaud's syndrome?
Raynaud's syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the world's population, occurs when blood vessels in the affected areas narrow causing reduction of blood flow leading to pain, tingling, and coldness. It may also cause other complications such as skin ulcers, or, in rare cases, the patient may end up with tissue damage (gangrene).
Credit: Healthline
During cold-related attacks, the skin first turns white due to lack of blood, then blue when the remaining blood in the affected area loses oxygen, then red when circulation resumes or when the temperature rises, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
But what is the impact of the rapid climate changes that the Earth witnesses, and the resulting weather changes, on those afflicted with the syndrome?
Speaking to “Green in Arabic”, Dr. Albin Sternbrandt, Associate Professor at the Department of Sustainable Health at Umeå University in Sweden, points out that Raynaud's syndrome is often associated with cold and wet weather, noting the expected increase in extreme weather events, including cold waves, due to climate change.
He added that there are a number of climate models that predict that some areas of the world will be affected by extremely cold weather, and therefore the Raynaud's syndrome crisis is expected to worsen among the residents of those areas.
Climate change makes winter more dangerous
Although talk about climate change is always associated with rising temperatures, there are scientific opinions indicating that it is also associated with severe cold waves.
In a study published in “Science” website 2021, researchers indicate a relationship between rising temperature in the north pole and the disturbance of the polar vortex, which can be linked to waves of severe cold that occurred in the continents of Asia and North America.
The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air that surrounds the Earth's poles, but rising temperatures have caused these cold masses to reach unusual areas.
Cold is not the only culprit
Cold weather is not the only culprit in causing Raynaud's syndrome attacks. There are other factors that increase the risk and are also exacerbated by climate change, most notably psychological stress.
Sternbrandt suggests that the stress associated with extreme weather events may contribute to more episodes of vaso-constriction, a term for constricted blood vessels, caused by the syndrome.
Advice from the associate professor at Sweden's Umeå University to ease attacks includes wearing heavy clothing such as coats and gloves, pointing to the continuous technological development in heating methods, including electrically powered heating gloves.
Vulnerable groups face the greatest risk
A darker side of this winter syndrome lies in the groups that cannot access heating or follow preventive measures, especially those who have various risk factors, including the displaced.
Several years ago, a video went viral on social media of a displaced Syrian girl crying and complaining about her hands hurting from the cold weather, although it is not clear whether the girl was suffering from Raynaud's syndrome or not.
The UN says climate change has made winters in Syria, where nearly 7 million people are internally displaced and there are severe shortages of heating and clothing, more than double the severity of the winter.
Climate change is linked to an increase in the severity of snowstorms, as rising temperatures increase the levels of water vapor carried by the air, which later turns into heavy rain or snow when temperatures drop, according to the National Geographic website.
climate paradox
But there is another opinion put forward by a group of scientists in a study in 2020, which is that global warming will reduce the rates of the syndrome’s outbreak over the current century, after using historical data on its prevalence in 1999, and comparing it with the expectations they reached for the year 2099.
The researchers expected in the results reported by the US National Library of Medicine website, that every degree of increase in the Earth's temperature will be met with a 0.5% decrease in the rate of the syndrome's spread.
But speaking to us, the associate professor at the Department of Sustainable Health at Umeå University said that global warming could lead to a decline in overall rates of the syndrome, but on the other hand there are areas where Raynaud's syndrome will remain a crisis for the population and even increase in prevalence.
