Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis: A survival guide

This book is unique. It accesses the latest knowledge from world-wide research and combines it with insights drawn from years of working in and with PMRGCAuk, the major patient support organisation for PMR and GCA. Kate and Vanessa have brought the voices of patients into the book to describe their experiences, share advice and ideas, and hopefully help people to be optimistic that, although these are very unpleasant diseases and may hang around for some time, they have a good chance of good quality of life and even full recovery.

This is the long-awaited third edition of the bestselling book for patients on two mysterious and little-understood inflammatory conditions, polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. They attack older people, PMR causing pain and stiffness that can massively affect mobility, and GCA causing irreversible damage to vision in cases that aren't diagnosed and treated in time. For both, standard treatment has been up to two years on steroid drugs (prednisolone or prednisone), and it is now clear that around 40% of patients are taking steroids for more than two years. This carries a burden of health problems beyond those caused by the diseases themselves. Having suffered with PMR herself, Kate Gilbert wrote the first two editions (2014 and 2016) to give patients the benefit of all she had learned while running and growing the PMR and GCA support charity, PMRGCAuk. Fantastically well-received, it is still appreciated by patients all around the world.

But with new developments in diagnosis and treatment it was high time to update the book, and for this brand new edition, Kate has teamed up with Dr Vanessa Quick, a consultant rheumatologist with the NHS in England. Vanessa has brought a new dimension of the perspective of the medic, to help patients understand what considerations doctors are taking into account when making clinical decisions. The book takes the reader through diagnosis and early treatment, explaining why diagnosis is often complicated and drawn-out; through the long months of tapering steroid doses, identifying potential companion drugs to reduce the overall amount of steroids taken; to things that the patient can do to help themselves towards recovery. A whole chapter is dedicated to the often difficult task of tapering the steroid dose while keeping on top of symptoms. There is also a chapter on physical activity and exercise contributed by physiotherapist and researcher Dr Anne O'Brien.

Dr Kate Gilbert is a retired business academic and former chair of PMRGCAuk. She is the author of the first two editions of this best-selling book. Kate was a successful head of department in a UK business school when she became ill with polymyalgia rheumatica. She went on to help set up the UK charity PMRGCAuk and served on the board of trustees for six years. Her experience of teaching research methods to Masters students honed her skill for explaining complex concepts to non-medical people, and she distilled what she had learned from working alongside rheumatologists and researchers into this 'survival guide'. She lives in the English Midlands with her husband and cats, and spends as much time as possible on her allotment.

Dr Vanessa Quick MBBS MRCP FHEA is a Consultant Rheumatologist and GCA Lead at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the South of England. Alongside her clinical work, she is involved in medical education, research, and service development of fast-track pathways for patients with GCA and PMR. Through her work as a Trustee of PMRGCAuk, she has developed a particular interest in making medical information more understandable and accessible to those living with these conditions. She lives with her husband and two teenage children and especially enjoys family holidays by, or preferably on, the sea.

Reader in Physiotherapy, School of Allied Health Professions, Keele University, UK