What are the most common symptoms of time arteritis?
time arteritis (TA), also known as giant cell arteritis (GCA), can cause a number of different symptoms. The most common manifestations of this disease are headache, jaw pain, fever, weight loss, fatigue, visual changes and muscle stiffness. Other rare but life -threatening symptoms of time arteritis may include aneurysms and strokes. Symptoms associated with this inflammatory disease often begin gradually and move slowly over time.
One of the most common symptoms of time arteritis is the pain in the head and neck area. Approximately two -thirds of patients complain about headaches. In addition, about half of the patients with this condition develop a claudication jaw that causes pain associated with chewing or jaw movement. Some patients may also have sore throat and tongue pain. Others have sensitivity to the skin above the area of temporal arteries that are located near the temples.
Often, symptoms of time arteritis are vague and non -all. Many pAcients develop recurring fever, inexplicable weight loss and fatigue. These systemic symptoms could point to any number of diseases or states. Doctors who take care of patients with these complaints often have to understand medical history, age, patient risk factors, and coexisting symptoms to diagnose time arteritis.
Visual problems are another manifestation of time arteritis that patients commonly experience. There may be a number of visual symptoms, including short -term loss of part of the field of view, double vision and complete loss of vision in one or both eyes. Symptoms of vision loss in patients with time arteritis relate because these patients could end up with permanent blindness if they were not treated properly.
Health condition called polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is commonly associated with temporal arteritis. This condition causes muscle tugWe, including pain or stiffness of the shoulders, neck and hips. These symptoms are often worse in the morning and can be associated with subjective weakness. Not all PMR cases are associated with TA and not all patients with those have symptoms of PMR. However, approximately 40-50% of patients with time arteritis have a coexisting PMR
Although the most common symptoms of time arteritis include head or neck pain, non -specific systemic symptoms, visual changes and symptoms of PMR, other manifestations are also possible. For example, it can cause neurological symptoms such as hearing loss, transient ischemic attacks - where blood supply is temporarily decreased and stroke. Some patients have claudication of arms, which is the pain that occurs when the arm is moved. Many patients with those are very sensitive to upper respiratory tract infections such as normal colds. Occasionally, patients can develop aortic aneurysm, which is a malformation of blood vessels that may be life -threatening if this results in rupture of the affected blood vessels.