Bharat Kumar, MD, MME, FACP, FAAAAI, RhMSUS, is the direc tor of the rheumatology fellowship training program at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and the physician editor of The Rheumatologist. Follow him on X @BharatKumarMD.
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Polymyalgia Rheumatica: New Tricks for an Old Disease
Originally posted Feb. 13, 2023; reposted in conjunction with publication of the PMR supplement to the February 2024 issue of The Rheumatologist. PHILADELPHIA—Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a chronic inflammatory condition that almost exclusively affects individuals older than 50.1 First described in 1888, PMR has been a recognized rheumatic disease since at least 1957. Diagnosing the…
Two Inflammatory Conditions—Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis—Share Clinical Connection
Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA) have common clinical and epidemiologic links, but they need not occur synchronously
Study: Most Patients with PMR Aren’t Getting Steroid-Sparing Agents in First 2 Years
A minority of patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) who were new to rheumatology practice were prescribed steroid-sparing agents through two years of follow-up. This is according to a large, U.S.-based cohort study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, which also found that nearly two-thirds of the patients remained on glucocorticoids beyond one year.1 “Our study…
How to Manage Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Recognizing the need to provide guidance on the current disparate management of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in collaboration with the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), recently published the first international set of recommendations for the screening, treatment and management of PMR.1,2 Specifically, the recommendations offer guidance on the use of…