Did anyone else ever hear this re GCA?

[Grammy80]

I was just cruising around the Internet and you know how one thing leads to another...and I came upon this:

10. Conditions Associated with Giant Cell Arteritis

Giant cell arteritis often coexists with polymyalgia rheumatica, another inflammatory disorder that causes pain and stiffness in the body. Some speculate the two are different manifestations of the same disease. According to a recent study published in Neurology, the varicella-zoster virus may also play a role in triggering this inflammatory response.

I had never read that the varicella-zoster virus could be a causative factor. That is the same virus that causes the shingles which I had. Thought provoking~~~😏😏

[SheffieldJane]

Yes I have heard this discussed on here. We do make a fuss about avoiding the live Shingles vaccine. The triggers for our conditions do seem multifarious though.

[Grammy80 in reply to SheffieldJane]

...the gift that keeps on giving, Jane~! Good thing we are a bunch of tough gals.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

It was originally a single study which has a lot of weaknesses - not least that most of our generation had chicken pox as children and carry the dormant virus in our bodies. Since then there have been further studies which have provided mixed results.

These are two very recent studies

aao.org/editors-choice/herp...

jrheum.org/content/early/20...

which find no significant connection, concluding respectively

"... there may be a possible weak association between herpes zoster and GCA. However, the vast majority of people with GCA did not have detectable herpes zoster antigen in the temporal artery biopsies and therefore herpes zoster only contributes to a very small subset of GCA cases.

It is also important to note that false positive testing for zoster antigen can occur in the setting of calcification and skeletal muscle, which may explain the high positivity of herpes zoster antigen detection in previous studies. In summary, causation has yet to be proven and the verdict is still out as to whether herpes zoster is associated with GCA."

and

"These results argue against a clinically relevant association between VZV infection and GCA, and support neither routine testing for VZV nor treatment with antiviral drugs."

[Grammy80 in reply to PMRpro]

Great response and info~I was surprised when I read it last night. Thanks~!

[Luciejc]

No one will ever convince me that my GCA wasn't triggered by my second Shingles vaccination. That night I had fever, chills, body ache and couldn't get out of bed the next morning. The rest is history.

[Grammy80 in reply to Luciejc]

It is good to hear from you...hope you are doing well. It is probably situations like yours that prompted neurologists to study that aspect.

You take good care~!