What is the cause of thromboangiitis obliterans?

As for the causes of thromboangiitis occlusive, everyone should pay attention to scientifically understand the most common ones. They may be related to smoking, and being in a cold and humid environment for a long time, or being infected without paying attention, can easily induce thromboangiitis occlusive.

(1) Smoking: According to domestic and international data, 60% to 95% of patients with thromboangiitis obliterans are smokers. Clinical observations have found that quitting smoking can relieve the condition of patients with thromboangiitis obliterans, but smoking again can make the condition worse. Erb et al. found in animal experiments on mice that tobacco extract can cause vascular lesions. Harkavy et al. used tobacco extract for intradermal testing and found that the positive rate in patients with thromboangiitis obliterans was 78% to 87%, while that in normal people was only 16% to 46%. However, thromboangiitis obliterans occurs in only a minority of smokers, and some patients with thromboangiitis obliterans have no history of smoking. Therefore, smoking may be an important factor in the development of thromboangiitis obliterans, but it is not the only cause.

(ii) Cold, damp, and trauma: The incidence of thromboangiitis obliterans in China is higher in the relatively cold northern region. Epidemiological surveys have found that 80% of patients with thromboangiitis obliterans had a history of exposure to cold and dampness before the onset of the disease; some patients had a history of trauma. These factors may cause vasospasm and vascular endothelial damage, leading to vascular inflammation and thrombotic occlusion.

(III) Infection and malnutrition: Clinical observations have found that many patients with thromboangiitis obliterans have a history of repeated fungal infections. Thompson found that the skin trichomoniasis test was positive in 80% of patients with thromboangiitis obliterans, compared with only 20% in the control group. Craven believes that the body's immune response to mold, which induces increased blood fibrinogen and hypercoagulable state, may be related to the onset of thromboangiitis obliterans.

Scholars in many countries have found that thromboangiitis obliterans is more common among people with low economic income and living standards. Hill et al. analyzed thromboangiitis obliterans in Indonesia and found that most patients lacked protein in their diets, especially essential amino acids. Some people also found in experiments on rats that a lack of VitB1 and VitC in the diet can induce vasculitis in rats. Therefore, protein, vitamin B1 and vitamin C deficiencies may be related to this disease.

(IV) The vast majority of patients with hormone-disordered thromboangiitis obliterans are male (80-90%), and most of them develop the disease in their young and middle-aged years. Some people believe that prostate dysfunction or excessive loss of prostatic fluid can reduce the amount of prostaglandins in the body that dilate blood vessels and inhibit platelet aggregation, and may cause peripheral vasoconstriction dysfunction and thrombosis, leading to this disease.