Laurel Pedberi, a retired bank worker, was nearly blinded due to illness whose first symptoms were stiff neck and back pain. Given that she cares about her health and regularly plays tennis and golf, her condition was assessed as a result of some intensive training for her age. However, it was something more serious – temporal arteritis, or arteritis of large cells, or inflammation of the walls of the arteries that supply the head and eyes with blood.
Temporal Arteritis Condition
This disease leads to decreased blood flow, and usually affects the temporal arteries that are located on both sides of the head under the skin of the temples. As a result, cells with abnormal artery increased. However, If it caught in time, temporal arteritis can lead to vision loss and even death. For 6 weeks the symptoms are so advanced that Laurel has barely managed to walk away and slept on her mattress waiting for a drug treatment that was too late to provide.
The disease most often affects women over 50, and the causes are not known. Some scientists believe that it is hereditary, but not excluded that it was a virus. There is a suspicion that more often affects those who live in colder climate areas.
The cause
Experts believe it could be caused by muscle condition known as rheumatic polymyalgia, which leads to inflammation of the large muscle areas on the body, usually around the shoulders, thighs and hips, which is manifested by stiffness of the muscles, especially in the morning, when the patients difficult to get out beds or to climb the stairs.
“Temporal arteritis mainly provides general symptoms such as the inability to color vision, pain, and loss of appetite, which resembles the flu-like infection,” said the professor. Bhaskar Dasgupta, a rheumatologist at Southend Hospital for launching a campaign for early detection of this disease.
“Our goal is to encourage doctors to ask patients specifically about the type of pain they feel, which is especially related to problems with chewing and swallowing food. Also one of the indicators may be a blurred or double vision. “
Temporal arteritis doesn’t only cause blindness
Loss of vision is not only caused by temporal arteritis Kompikacija – inflammation can affect other arteries, such as those that supply the heart and brain. If blood tests show that the patient is an inflammatory process, it is necessary to do a biopsy of the arterial wall. At the time of discovery, the disease is treated with steroids, low dose aspirin to prevent blood clots.