Heredity and PMR

Like many autoimmune disorders it is associated with low vit D levels - is that the reason for the higher incidence in the north or is it the genes? It has been said it doesn't occur in black populations - again, not true, there is a lady on this forum with those genes. On the other hand, rheumatoid arthritis is rarely seen in the Indian sub-continent - but it does appear amoungst ethnic Indians who live in the UK and then disappears again if they return home. That suggests that there is a high chance that diet or environment plays a significant role in at least some cases of RA. Is it the same for other autoimmune arthritides? 

I am sure my maternal grandfather and a great aunt on my mother's mother's side of the family had PMR. But it wasn't called PMR and it wasn't considered worthy of treatment - not that there was a lot of option in the 1950s because prednisolone hadn't been developed for more than a few years then. It was generally called "rheumaticks" and accepted as being a natural part of aging. When pred was first "discovered" it was given to arthritis patients in wheelchairs - who promptly got up and walked, leading to the belief this was a miracle. I suspect many of those patients had PMR. The balloon was burst when they realised the long term effects of high dose pred - they were using very high doses and wouldn't have been able to deal with some of the side effects in the 1950s.

It was classified along with arthritis and rheumatism because of the symptoms which is why we see rheumatologists - although now they have the means to investigate such things it is realised to be a vasculitis caused by an underlying autoimmune disorder. But vasculitis specialists are rare birds - and PMR is boring, even to rheumatologists one suspects.

I doubt your nieces and nephews would have been given a PMR label unless you are very much younger than your siblings so that that generation are the same age as or older than you. The general opinion amongst doctors is that it only appears in over-50s so getting that diagnosis does require you to be at least mid-40s - although it is rubbish, people under 50 develop it, they just don't get that label, they are told they have fibromyalgia, depression, "don't know", hysteria or whatever. There are pathology-backed diagnoses of GCA in under 40s - and PMR and GCA are related. If a 37-year old can have GCA, a 37-year old can have PMR.

I also believe my mother-in-law had PMR but was not diagnosed.  She was of Irish decent and one day in her 70's could not get out of bed from the pain in all her muscles.   Her Dr. gave her prednisone thinking it was LARA and it worked instantly.  I wasn't involved with her Dr. but I do know that she always said if she didn't take her pills (2 white tabs so I expect 10mg) she couldn't move.

By the way, Ron and his wife are very good friends of my sister and her husband and they visit them in Indian Harbour every year for a few weeks.  If we're all there at the same time this fall/winter us gimpy's should get together😊

Hugs, Diana🌸

I have PMR and carry the gene HLAB27 (human leukocyte antigen B27), which is associated with some other autoimmune disorders. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

"The prevalence of HLA-B27 varies markedly in the general population. For example, about 8% of Caucasians, 4% of North Africans, 2-9% of Chinese, and 0.1-0.5% of persons of Japanese descent possess this gene.[1] In northern Scandinavia(Lapland), 24% of people are HLA-B27 positive, while 1.8% have associated ankylosing spondylitis...In addition to its association with ankylosing spondylitis, HLA-B27 is implicated in other types of seronegative spondyloarthropathy as well, such as reactive arthritis(Reiter's Syndrome), certain eye disorders such as acute anterior uveitis and iritis, psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis associated spondyloarthritis. The shared association with HLA-B27 leads to increased clustering of these diseases."

I don't know who I inherited the antigen from, as both my parents are no longer aive. My 3 children have not been tested. I wonder whether my brother has it. We share the same Father, but not the same Mother. 

I'm new to PMR and this forum, still adjusting to it all, but thought I'd tell you that my Mother was diagnosed with PMR in her early 60's and after a few years developed late onset RA which she still needs treatment for at 83 years old. Also my grandmother had RA and psoriasis first as a teenager and for most of her life. I've also had Psoriasis a few times since teenage years and Hashimoto's for 20 years, oh and a first cousin has SLE. We are all from the far north of Scotland and must have inhereted some really bad genes!