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- Discussion:
    - polymyalgia rheumatica is a clinical syndrome that affects shoulder and hip girdles and causes severe pain and stiffness;
    - usually pt is in the sixth to seventh decade of life;
    - diff dx:
            - frozen shoulder (usually frozen shoulder is not associated w/ an elevated sed rate);
            - giant cell arteritis;

- Labs:
    - Sed Rate:
         - disorder often presents w/ low grade fever, anemia, & markedly elevated erythrocyte sed rate;
         - sed rate is of diagnostic importance in pts who have polymyalgia rheumatica, for it is most consistent laboratory abnormality;
         - value is of more than fifty mm/ hour, and often > 100 mm / hour;
         - it is excellent indicator of activity of this disease, and serial measurements should be obtained;

- Treatment:
    - it is usually responsive to low dose corticosteroids and has excellent prognosis

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Treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. I. Steroid regimens in the first two months

Many Muscle Misery