Polymyalgia Rheumatica Health Article

Definition

Polymyalgia rheumatica is a syndrome that causes pain and stiffness in the hips and shoulders of people over the age of 50.

Description

Allthough the major characteristics of this condition are just pain and stiffness, there are reasons to believe it is more than just old-fashioned rheumatism. Patients are commonly so afflicted that their muscles atrophy from disuse. A similar complaint of such weakness is also seen in serious muscle diseases. Moreover, some patients develop arthritis or a disease called giant cell arteritis or temporal arteritis.

Causes and symptoms

This condition may arise as often as once in every 2,000 people. Rarely does it affect people under 50 years old. The average age is 70; women are afflicted twice as often as men. Along with the pain and stiffness of larger muscles, headache may add to the discomfort. The scalp is often tender. Pain is usually worse at night. There may be fever and weight loss before the full disease appears. Patients complain that stiffness is worse in the morning and returns if they have been inactive for any period of time, a condition called gelling. Sometimes the stiffness is severe enough that it causes frozen shoulder.

Diagnosis

Symptoms are usually present for over a month by the time patients seek medical attention. A mild anemia is often present. One blood test, called an erythrocyte sedimentation rate, is very high, much more so than in most other diseases. The most important issue in evaluating polymyalgia rheumatica is to check for giant cell arteritis. Giant cell arteritis can lead to blindness if left untreated.