Polymyalgia rheumatica

Definition:

A disorder involving pelvic pain and stiffness, or shoulder pain and stiffness.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

Polymyalgia rheumatica is a disorder that almost always occurs in persons over 50 years old. The cause is unknown. Although symptoms are located predominantly in the muscles and there are no outward signs of arthritis, in some cases there is evidence of inflammatory arthritis.

The disorder may occur independently, or it may coexist with or precede giant cell arteritis, which is an inflammation of blood vessels (usually in the head).

Polymyalgia rheumatica occurs in approximately 8 out of 10,000 people; however, it occurs in approximately 1 out of 200 people over 50 years old.