DEAR DR. GOTT: My hands and feet are cold winter and summer. My doctor has tested my thyroid a couple of times, but nothing comes of it. I’m 86 years old, had a mild stroke and, before that, a heart attack. My pills are warfarin, simvastatin, atenolol and furosemide. Can you help me get warm?

DEAR READER: Hands and feet become cold to the touch when they fail to receive an adequate supply of oxygenated blood. When a person is exposed to lower temperatures, the small arteries of the arms and legs narrow as a means of shunting heat to the remainder of the body where it is most needed. While the most common reason for this to occur is outdoor exposure or from sitting in a cool room, there may also be an underlying health problem, such as a thyroid condition, Raynaud’s, arterial disease, circulatory inadequacies and more.
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