Are we living in the dark ages?

[fmkkm]

I was reading the attached article and thinking that there are really no forward thinking doctors out there. I am supposedly going to a doctor who is expert in GCA and yet I have really been monitoring and treating myself. And then I read posts by some people here and it wouldn’t surprise me if they decided to use “blood letting” as a treatment.

Anyway, has anyone ever been monitored by tracking IL6 levels or other levels mentioned in this article?

acrabstracts.org/abstract/s...

Happy springtime all😎

[PMRpro Ambassador]

IL-6 is not a widely available test so is not routinely used in PMR except for research purposes - and it is considerably more expensive than ESR and CRP which are routinely available in every lab. Calprotectin is not widely studied - largescale trials would have to be carried out in order to validate substituting its use for ESR/CRP and then persuading labs to carry it routinely would require both time and a great deal of effort. Both are ELISA (enzyme-linked immunoassay) tests - so I imagine a technique which is much more personnel-orientated than sticking a sample on an auto analyser.

It is also not always raised in patients - so, as is the case with ESR and CRP, its value varies from patient to patient. I did ask Sarah Mackie about it - and she said she didn't think it was really of as much value for monitoring as might be suggested by some medical literature.

[fmkkm in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for that. I sometimes get frustrated thinking these diseases are pushed to the back of the shelf. GCA is very serious and yet treated so cavalier by most docs.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to fmkkm]

That is basic ignorance I suppose.

[Retailmonkey in reply to fmkkm]

Whilst it may appear that doctors are in the dark ages there is a lot going on to improve their knowledge and a lot of research going on into both PMR and GCA and their treatments, It takes a long time for this to disseminate and come in to use so don't dispair