Clinical study to investigate site-specific use and safety of disposable body warmers for Raynaud's syndrome
Based on the above results, we then tested heating the back of the neck, above the elbow, and the wrists of patients with systemic sclerosis (scleroderma) for one week. The same type of disposable body warmers were used here too. This time, in addition to self-assessment of Raynaud's phenomenon, we decided to collect blood samples to assess whether the factors that increase and elongate capillaries fluctuated.
The results showed that warming the back of the neck and above the elbow alleviated Raynaud's phenomenon, and the symptoms became slightly less severe with each repetition. In general, no change in factors involved in angiogenesis was observed in samples taken from blood vessels of the elbow, but in the blood taken from the fingertips, the concentration of a factor (angiopoietin-1) that straightens capillaries was found to increase. (https://doi.org/10.1093/mr/roab014)
Site-specific heating effect on Raynaud's phenomenon
Changes in angiopoietin-1 concentration at fingertips after heating of each site
