Polymyalgia rheumatic - a disease that is relatively rare in modern medical practice. It is associated with various autoimmune processes in the body. And today, more and more patients are interested in questions about what are the causes and symptoms of the disease. Is it possible to permanently get rid of polymyalgia? Are there really effective treatments? What complications can the disease lead to? This information will be useful to many readers.
What is a disease?
Polymyalgia rheumatic - a disease that is accompanied by inflammation and soreness of various muscle groups. By the way, most often the disease affects the muscles of the neck, shoulder girdle, as well as the pelvis, but the process can spread to other tissue groups.
A characteristic feature of the disease is the fact that the pain is most severe in the morning, after sleep, but weakens a bit during the day. Symptoms include stiffness in movement and muscle weakness. The disease is not a threat to human life, but constant discomfort significantly worsens its quality. In addition, the disease is associated with some complications. That is why it is so important to consult a doctor on time and start appropriate therapy.
Epidemiology of the disease
In fact, such muscle diseases are not so often diagnosed. According to statistical studies, the inhabitants of countries located closer to the equator are most susceptible to this ailment. Nevertheless, the likelihood of developing the disease is not excluded among the population of other states.
Cases of the development of an ailment in patients younger than 50 years of age are considered an incredible rarity - most often people over 60 are sick. It is interesting that among women this pathology is diagnosed approximately twice as often as among the male part of the population.
Muscle pain: causes of rheumatic polymyalgia
The causes of the development of this disease are of interest to many patients. Unfortunately, today far from always doctors are able to find out why rheumatic diseases develop. It is believed that this form of polymyalgia is associated with various autoimmune processes in which the immune system malfunctions - it begins to produce antibodies that damage the body's own, healthy cells.
There is a theory that such diseases are genetic in nature and are inherited from parents to children. Nevertheless, there are factors that can provoke the development of the disease. In particular, various infections can be attributed to the list of causes - the most dangerous are adenoviruses, parainfluenza viruses, and some other pathogens. In addition, it has been proven that Horton's disease, giant cell temporal arteritis, can trigger the autoimmune process.
Naturally, risk factors can also include gender (women get sick more often), old age, place of residence, etc. In any case, the ailment requires a well-chosen treatment regimen.
Rheumatic polymyalgia: symptoms
Of course, the question of the features of the clinical picture is extremely important. After all, rheumatic diseases are accompanied by various symptoms. It’s worth mentioning right away that this form of polymyalgia develops abruptly - signs appear unexpectedly, and their intensity increases every day. The "peak" of the disease occurs after about 2-4 weeks.
As a rule, patients first notice an increase in body temperature and the appearance of weakness. If in the first few days muscle pain is perceived as one of the signs of intoxication, then after some time a person realizes that it is soreness that is the main symptom. Of course, in such cases, the patient is interested in what caused such intense pain in the muscles. The reasons may lie precisely in the development of the rheumatic form of polymyalgia.
Most often, the disease affects muscle groups of the shoulder and pelvic girdle, as well as the neck. Pain in this case is present almost constantly - it can be tugging, pulling, stitching. As a rule, in the morning, patients note not only increased pain, but also the appearance of stiffness in the movements. The disease affects not only actively working muscles, but also those tissues that constantly experience static loads. As a result of this, discomfort appears not only during movement, but also at rest - patients are forced to constantly change their body position. The temperature effect does not affect the state of the muscles, so cold or hot compresses do not have any effect. It is also impossible to relieve pain with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics.
In some patients, numbness of the fingertips is observed. In addition, the development of palmar fasciitis is possible, which is accompanied by swelling of the wrists. Sometimes, against the background of polymyalgia, arthritis of small joints of the phalanges, as well as knee and wrist joints, appears.
On the other hand, the disease is accompanied by some other, non-specific symptoms. In particular, constant bouts of pain prevent a person from sleeping, which affects his emotional state. Signs of illness include loss of appetite, weight loss (up to anorexia), and general weakness, depression, and sometimes even depression.
How to recognize a disease?
Unfortunately, to date, there are no exact diagnostic criteria. However, in medicine it is customary to consider the issue of the presence of rheumatic polymyalgia in the event that:
- the age of the patient is more than 60-65 years;
- during clinical tests, an increase in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate is observed - up to 40 mm / h or more;
- the patient complains of pain in the pelvic and shoulder girdle, which is symmetrical in nature;
- there is morning stiffness that does not pass more than 1 hour;
- constant discomfort persecutes a person for at least two weeks, and the number of symptoms and their severity is constantly increasing;
- the patient noted a decrease in body weight, general weakness, depression;
- with a single administration of prednisone at a dose of not more than 15 mg per day, the patient's condition improves rapidly.
For the diagnosis of rheumatic polymyalgia, all of the above factors are necessary. After all, there are other muscle diseases that are accompanied by similar symptoms.
Modern diagnostic methods
If you suspect the presence of such a disease, you should immediately consult a rheumatologist. To begin with, he will conduct an examination, prescribe appropriate tests, and also check compliance with the international criteria scale.
Patients undergo blood tests - during the study, a slight degree of anemia and an increase in ESR are detected . There are also tomography, radiological and ultrasound examinations. A laboratory study of synovial (articular) fluid confirms the presence of neutrophilic leukocytosis. But a muscle biopsy with such a disease is not considered informative.
Based on all the information collected, the doctor can make a final diagnosis and develop an individual treatment regimen.
Medical treatments
To date, the only truly effective method of eliminating inflammation is to take corticosteroids, for example, Prednisone, Prednisolone, and some others. Patients are prescribed low doses of hormones. In most cases, therapy lasts about eight months, but in more severe cases, doctors recommend taking the drugs for 1-2 years. If it is too early to cancel treatment or reduce the dose of hormones, then a new exacerbation of the disease can be provoked.
Treatment of rheumatic diseases of this type includes regular physical therapy, which is especially important if patients suffer from stiffness of movement.
Since long-term hormone therapy can provoke osteoporosis, patients are prescribed nutritional supplements and mineral complexes as prophylaxis - this will help prevent the development of calcium deficiency.
Are complications possible?
Today, many patients are interested in questions about what constitutes polymyalgia rheumatism, symptoms, treatment and causes of the disease. Of course, muscle pain brings discomfort to a person’s life, but they are not a direct threat. Nevertheless, an ailment can provoke some complications. In particular, against the background of it, true arthritis of the joints often develops, which only worsens well-being.
One of the most serious complications is inflammation of the temporal artery. Such a disease is accompanied by extremely severe pain in the temples, which intensify at night. It is also possible to weaken vision, up to its loss (most often the eye suffers from the affected artery). In the absence of therapy, temporal arthritis can lead to myocardial infarction.
Is it possible to treat the disease with folk remedies?
Of course, patients are wondering if there are home remedies that can cure a problem such as polymyalgia rheumatism. Treatment with folk remedies is, of course, possible. For example, young birch leaves are considered quite effective. First you need to pour boiling water over them and let them soften. After this, the leaves need to be applied to the affected areas of the muscles, covered with compression paper on top and wrapped with a scarf. The compress should stay overnight. Therapy lasts at least a week.
Some folk healers also recommend drinking a decoction of stigmas of corn. And tincture of mullein with vodka will help to eliminate soreness (applied externally). It is these methods that are used to eliminate the disease called rheumatic polymyalgia. Treatment, however, cannot replace hormone replacement therapy. Home remedies can only be used as auxiliary methods and only with the permission of the attending physician.
Diet for rheumatic polymyalgia
It is immediately worth noting that polymyalgia rheumatic requires some nutritional restrictions. The fact is that soreness is significantly exacerbated in the presence of obesity. Moreover, one of the side effects of hormone therapy is the rapid increase in body fat mass.
Naturally, you should not strictly limit yourself in nutrition - the body should receive enough vitamins, minerals and nutrients. But you should limit the amount of sweets and pastries. In addition, too sharp, fatty and fried foods should be excluded from the diet. It is not recommended to abuse alcohol. At the same time, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat, steamed, as well as cereals and dairy products will help provide the body with all the necessary nutrients. It is very important to include calcium-rich foods in the diet, as the daily intake of this mineral against hormonal therapy is 1000-1500 mg.
What are the prognoses for patients?
Many people today are interested not only in the question of what polymyalgia rheumatism is (the symptoms, treatment and causes of the disease are described above) - they want to know what are the patients' chances of recovery? To begin with, it is worth noting that cases of spontaneous extinction of the disease are known to medicine - a similar phenomenon is rare, but still possible. Moreover, in most cases, with the right hormonal therapy and all the precautions, complete recovery will come over time.
But the refusal of medical treatment or a neglected form of the disease is fraught with negative consequences. In some patients, polymyalgia rheumatic becomes chronic - a wave-like course with regular occurrence of exacerbations is characteristic of this form.