Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory disorder that causes widespread muscle aching and stiffness, primarily in your neck, shoulders, upper arms, thighs and hips.
Although some people develop these symptoms gradually, polymyalgia rheumatica can literally appear overnight. People with polymyalgia rheumatica may go to bed feeling fine, only to awaken with stiffness and pain the next morning.
Just what triggers polymyalgia rheumatica isn’t known, but the cause may be a problem with the immune system, perhaps involving both genetic and environmental factors. Aging also appears to play a role.
Polymyalgia rheumatica usually goes away on its own in a year or two. But you don’t have to endure polymyalgia rheumatica for months or years. Medications and self-care measures can improve your symptoms.
Polymyalgia rheumatica symptoms may include:
* Moderate to severe aching and stiffness in the muscles in your hips, thighs, shoulders, upper arms and neck
* Fatigue
* Unintentional weight loss
* Weakness or a general feeling of being unwell
* Sometimes, a slight fever
* Anemia — low red blood cell count
Initially, you may have pain on just one side of your body, but as the disease progresses, symptoms are likely to occur on both sides.
Stiffness is usually worse in the morning or after sitting or lying down for long periods. At times, the discomfort may also be severe enough to wake you at night.
The aching and stiffness of polymyalgia rheumatica often occur suddenly, but sometimes may develop gradually.
Between 10 percent and 20 percent of people with polymyalgia rheumatica have a related condition called giant cell arteritis, which causes the arteries in your temples and sometimes in your neck and arms to become swollen and inflamed.
Polymyalgia rheumatica is an arthritic syndrome that causes your muscles to feel achy and stiff due to mild inflammation in your joints and surrounding tissues. Most of the inflammation occurs in the hip and shoulder joints, but it may develop elsewhere in your body as well. In general, the inflammation isn’t as severe as that in inflammatory types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
In polymyalgia rheumatica, inflammation occurs when white blood cells — which normally protect your body from invading viruses and bacteria — attack the lining of your joints (synovium). Researchers aren’t sure what causes this abnormal immune system response, but they suspect that as with many disorders, both genetic and environmental factors are involved.
There may be a link between polymyalgia rheumatica and certain viruses, such as adenovirus, which causes respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to pneumonia; human parvovirus B19, the source of an infection that primarily affects children; and human parainfluenza virus.
Although the exact causes of polymyalgia rheumatica are unknown, certain factors may increase your risk of developing the disease, including:
* Age. Polymyalgia rheumatica affects older adults almost exclusively — the average age at onset of the disease is 70.
* Sex. Women are twice as likely to develop the condition as men are.
* Race. Although polymyalgia rheumatica can affect people of any race, the vast majority are white. People of Northern European and Scandinavian origin are particularly at risk.
* Giant cell arteritis. Also at risk are people with giant cell arteritis, a condition that causes arteries in your temples or sometimes other parts of your body to become swollen and inflamed. As many as half the people with giant cell arteritis also have polymyalgia rheumatica.
See your doctor if you suspect you have polymyalgia rheumatica. Some people delay getting medical care because they think it’s normal to have aching and stiffness as they grow older. But persistent pain is never normal. And because doctors can successfully treat polymyalgia rheumatica, you can be spared months or even years of unnecessary discomfort and disability.
If you’ve been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica and experience new intense headaches, scalp tenderness, vision problems or achiness in your jaw, tell your doctor, as these may be symptoms of giant cell arteritis.
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