Piece in Daily Mail

Am I missing a beat here? Isn't this article one that appeared several weeks ago?

I remember then being disgusted by Cynthia Byrne's description of the young men who helped her. Yobs? I don't think so. I see from a reading of many of the comments following the article that

I am not alone in my opinion of her manners. Did she learn them from her \"newspaper\"?

I suggest she would do well to join this site.

Am I missing a beat here? Isn't this article one that appeared several weeks ago?

I remember then being disgusted by Cynthia Byrne's description of the young men who helped her. Yobs? I don't think so. I see from a reading of many of the comments following the article that

I am not alone in my opinion of her manners. Did she learn them from her \"newspaper\"?

I suggest she would do well to join this site.

Betty

The article initially referred to on this thread was one that appeared in yesterday's Mail not the Dorothy Byrne article of some time ago that Rick is referring to which is where the confusion has arisen :?He googled the Mail site and brought up the earlier article.

In yesterday's article Professor Dasgupta referred to the possibility of a virus being the cause of PMR and recommending that a low dose of steroid could bring about a complete recovery - I'm wondering if he means stepping in quickly with the steroids to treat the virus before it leads to full-blown PMR - that was precisely the experience of someone I came across.

Nite Nite sleep tite........ :sleepy:

MrsO

Betty

Yes this is a new article altogether Every Tuesday there are at least 8 or more pages on health and this week there were 2 pages saying are the elderly treated differently with health care mentioned heart disease breast cancer Parkinsons Depression and unusually PMR !!!

So always worth a look on a Tuesday

Best wishes Mrs G

Thank you Mesdames O and G. Have now read the new article.

It does seem very adamant that PMR starts with a virus. There are many of us on here who feel that stress may have been the trigger. I am one of them but it did not occurr to me at the time. First time we were concerned for my very elderly ( 93 ) mother. She lived in the next village and we went every day for our peace of mind. SHE was not worried at all except on duvet cover changing day. That was all she ever asked for help with. At the time it all seemed ok but I think that it may have taken a toll.

Second time we decided to sell our house and be sensible and act our ages but we were so relieved when bad timing ( credit crunch ) meant we could not go ahead I think that may have been worrying me more than I would admit. However on neither occasion was I ill in any way. Can one have a virus without symptoms?

It's wonderful that we have The Professor as our Patron and we all hope that the answer to PMR comes soon but I hope this will not mean no virus, no diagnosis. Already people have been wrong gender, wrong age and only slowly has it been realised that not much is set in stone.

Several posters have said that with hindsight they feel it was a virus in their case. Are there others like me who had no such trigger?

Also I would take issue with the insistance on a Rheumatology referral. My doctor got me through my first bout and I was absolutely clear for five years. I shall happily stay with him this time, too.

Best wishes and comfort to all BettyE

'We never see it below the age of 50,' says the good doctor. So what have all these under-fifties on this site got then I wonder?

Hi All

I have not wanted to enter into the discussion on the DM article, but here I am with my six pennyworth.

I was cross when I read the article, because of the inaccuracies and the statement that \"very rarely seen under 50's\".

It was just on 12 May at the launch of our DVD on PMR& GCA and PMR&GCA UK North East Support where the Professor was the Guest speaker, that he concurred when the question about under 50's was raised.

We have also, at other times discussed the question of 'old age' as less then 5 years ago it had been stated that it did not occur in people below 60.

I think this has been cobbled together by a 'journalist' who pays little attention to detail.

Professor Bhaskar Dasgutpa, is only quoted at the beginning and the end.

He would never have said PMR can lead to blindness.

PMR on its own does not lead to blindness, it is GCA that can and does, if it is not diagnosed in time.

A viral infection has been considered as a possible cause but not established.

I have learnt much over the last three years, from Professors, Consultants both Rheumatologists and Opthamologists and some GPs and Patients from both the UK and outside the UK.

Much more than I ever wanted to know and neither did I want to be in a position where I had to learn.

What I do know is that Patients want accurate information, even if that information is not good. Truth does much less harm than oblique replies and a 'we don't know' is acceptable from the Medical Profession.

The old adage 'Honesty is the best policy' still applies in my book.

And more accuracy in Journalists would be welcome not only in relation to PMR and GCA but in other fields as well.

There, now you all know, I am a grumpy old woman.

I wanted to put a 'Grumpy' emoticons in here - there was not one grrrrrrrrr.

Hear Hear Mrs.K.

I'd put a grumpy on, too only I have to admit, I don't know how! Perhaps Rick will give me a lesson. I know all about Quotes, thanks to him.

All we can do to counteract the ignorance and misinformation is correct it whenever we get the chance. Perhaps the journalist concerened could be directed to this site.

Hi all

Doesn't this make us all even more grateful to have this wonderful site where we learn so much from each other's experiences rather than rely solely on our GP's (not everyone has a wonderful GP!) and what we read in the Press!

MrsO

Hi BettyE,

If you want to add one of those 'smiley faces' (or not so smiley face), they're located on the left side of the area where you typing a post. There are 20 choices there. If you don't see the smiley face you're looking for, there's a link just below those 20 faces entitled, 'View more Emoticons'. Click on that and you'll see all kinds of choices. Some of these are self explanatory, some are not. To know exactly what each of those emoticons are, just hover your mouse over the icon for 2 seconds and you should see a short description pop up.

One thing about adding an emoticon. I noticed that in this forum software, when I click on a smiley face, it shows up at the end of my typing. That's fine if I remember to add the smiley-face while I'm typing... but if I try to insert it someplace while proof reading, it always shows up at the bottom of my post. :roll: <-- For instance I just wanted to add 'Rolling eyes' just before this sentence but it showed up at the bottom - or end of my typing! The code for that is 'colon-roll-colon' or

[code:1:e4815163b1]:roll:[/code:1:e4815163b1] which shows up at the end of the text. To move it in the right spot, I highlight that code and drag and paste it where I want it.

Hope this helps.

Dear Mrs K

I agree with you about the article in the Daily Mail. It was innaccurate in that no distinction was made between PMR and GCA. And both conditions are not limited to the elderly. Health information in a newspaper really should be accurate and I felt like writing to them but life rushed on and my good intentions to take action fell by the wayside.

Have got the 3 grandchildren from Hong Kong (9, 11, 13) staying for a fortnight so haven't had a moment to look at this site. Also totally exhausted. God bless DVDs.

Close to collapse Granny

Margaret S

:D Thank you Rick. BettyE