Our circulatory system, which includes our heart and lungs, pumps blood around our body more than 1000 times a day.

While it’s easy to think of this system as a simple pipe-like structure that joins the heart and the lungs to take oxygenated blood and nutrients to the body and cart it back again, the truth is it’s much more complex.

 
Poor circulation, regularly experienced as cold hands and feet, may be a warning sign that things aren’t all good in your circulatory system.

Cold hands, warm heart
If I turn on the air-conditioner my colleague turns it off because even on the warmest  say her hands and feet feel cold.

This sensitivity is experienced by many women, particularly those under the age of 25. Caused by a reaction to a drop in temperature, the skin’s blood vessels decrease their size to shunt blood to organs.

Vasoconstriction, as it’s known, is more common in slim people because body fat is naturally warming. Smokers may also regularly experience it, because smoking lowers the oxygen content in blood, contributing to a lack of sensation in hands and feet.

When it’s more than cold fingers 
The symptoms of vasoconstriction can be really troublesome. As well as fingers and toes, the nose, ears, tongue, and even the nipples of breastfeeding mothers, can be affected. This extreme sensitivity is known as Primary Raynaud’s phenomenon. It’s thought to be genetic and runs in families. Around one in five Aussie women experience it at least once in their lives.

As the temperature dips, changes in skin colour – from pink to blue to white – may occur as the blood supply diminishes. When blood flow returns, the skin turns from blue to red and finally back to pink.

Vasoconstriction can also occur when someone is stressed. This is because stress hormones affect nerve endings in the same way as temperature variations.

Freezing fingers and toes
Secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon is more disabling and mainly affects women with an autoimmune disease. These are conditions where the body’s defence system becomes chaotic and turns on itself.

Autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma or lupus affect connective tissue through which thermo-regulating blood vessels run. Therefore the reaction to temperature change is severe because the ability of the blood vessels to work effectively may be destroyed. The reaction can cause skin ulcers and upset the use of hands and feet. However the changes are usually short term and eventually the reactions stop. 

Quick tips to help end an attack - fast!
The trick during an attack of cold hands and feet is to get warm as quickly as possible:

• Soak your hands or feet in warm (but not hot) water.
• Put your hands under your armpits for greater warmth.
• Circle your arms around like windmills to send extra warm blood to your fingers.