Brr! Disorder makes some super sensitive to cold

For Ronni Shulman, a stroll down one of the refrigerated aisles in the grocery store is enough to freeze her fingers, turning them blue and numb. "They turn a purplish blue color, almost like they're stained from carbon paper," explains Shulman, who's 57 and lives in Bedford, N.Y. -- until the winter months, when she flees to North Venice, Fla. "Usually, my thumb, index and middle fingers on both hands are affected more than the others."

Shulman suffers from Raynaud's phenomenon, a painful, annoying and sometimes embarrassing disorder of the blood vessels that affects an estimated 5 percent of Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. People with Raynaud's are unusually sensitive to cold temperatures, and even the briefest exposure (like holding a cold can of soda, or fishing something out of the freezer) can trigger a Raynaud's "attack," causing fingers or toes to feel numb as they turn a patriotic shade of either red, white or blue.

"Essentially, it's due to vasospasm, or hyperactivity of the blood vessels," explains Dr. Evan Lipsitz, chief of vascular surgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, "and it is a normal response of the body in trying to stay warm to constrict those vessels, but this is kind of a hyper-response to that."

In other words, when people with Raynaud's are cold, they're really cold. As Lipsitz explains, when you feel cold, your blood vessels constrict, which reduces blood flow and cuts down on heat leaving your body. But in people with Raynaud's, the blood vessels overreact, shrinking so much that very little blood is able to flow to the fingers or toes, which is what makes them feel numb and change color. (It's rare, but Raynaud's can affect ears, lips, noses -- and even nipples.)

About 80 percent of Raynaud's sufferers are women -- perhaps because women are more likely to suffer from autoimmune disorders, Lipsitz says. Sometimes, Raynaud's is caused by an autoimmune disorder, such as scleroderma, or by a medication, but in most people, Raynaud's has no known cause, and isn't an indicator of something more serious. The key is simply to keep warm -- even when that means looking a bit silly, as Shulman has learned.

"People make comments when they see me wearing gloves in what they consider to be relatively warm weather. I used to wear gloves during my children's soccer games and people would ask, 'What's with the gloves? It's April!'" says Shulman, who is the vice chairman for the Raynaud's Association. "I also used to wear gloves in my office and people would say, 'Um, are you cold?' Yes, I was."

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

TODAY covered Raynaud's this morning, speaking with two experts about the condition. Check out the video below.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Find The Body Odd on Twitter and Facebook.