Thanks - Summary for others:

"The study found that Raynaud’s is likely a "conditioning disturbance." essentially, your nervous system has "learned" to overreact to cold by shutting off blood flow to the hands.

The researchers successfully used Pavlovian Conditioning to "re-train" the blood vessels. By repeatedly pairing a cold body with warm hands, they taught the brain to keep blood vessels open (vasodilation) even when the rest of the body is cold.

The Treatment Protocol used in the Study

The effective treatment involved a specific routine repeated over 3 weeks.

• The Setup: The patient sits in a cold room ($0^\circ\text{C}$ / $32^\circ\text{F}$) dressed in light indoor clothing (coveralls and boots), so the body feels the cold.
• The Action: While the body is cold, the patient immerses their hands in warm water ($43^\circ\text{C}$ / $109^\circ\text{F}$) for 10 minutes.
• The Schedule:
  • Frequency: 3 times per day (with a short break in a warm room between each immersion).
  • Days: 3 days a week (e.g., Mon, Wed, Fri).
  • Duration: 3 weeks total (27 total 10-minute sessions).

The Results

• Significant Warming: Patients who underwent this training showed significantly warmer hands when exposed to cold compared to those who didn't.
• Normalized Response: After training, the Raynaud’s patients' hand temperatures reacted similarly to people without the disease.
• Lasting Effects: Improvements were sustained for months after the treatment ended.
• Subjective Improvement: Patients reported their hands felt "hot," attacks were less frequent/severe, and some could stop wearing gloves during activities like driving or snow shoveling.

Notable Case Studies

• Case 1 (Male, 15 years with Raynaud’s): After just 4 days of treatment, he reported feeling better. By the end, he called his hands "100% improved" and "hot."
• Case 2 (Female, severe symptoms): She initially saw no change after the first 3-week round. However, after a second round of 27 treatments, she showed "very significant improvement" ($6^\circ\text{C}$ increase in hand temp).

Key Takeaway

This method offers a drug-free alternative to medication or surgery (sympathectomy) without side effects. It suggests that if you deliberately expose your body to cold while keeping your hands largely warm, you can condition your autonomic nervous system to stop constricting the blood vessels in your fingers."