Takayasu's arteritis is an inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that affects the aorta and its branches. Although it has been reported worldwide, it shows a predilection for young Oriental women. Females with this disease outnumber males by 8:1, and the age of onset is typically between 15 and 30 yr. In the Western world, atherosclerosis is a more frequent cause of obstruction of the aortic arch vessels than is Takayasu's arteritis. Arteritis is inflammation of the walls of arteries, usually as a result of infection or auto-immune response. ... Inflammation is the first response of the immune system to infection or irritation and may be referred to as the innate cascade. ... Etiology (alternately aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. ... AORTA can also mean always-on real-time access, referring to WAN computer networks. ... The term the Orient literally refers simply to the rising of the sun, being derived from the Latin word oriens. ... Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces egg cells. ... Male is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces sperms. ... For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. ...

History

The first case of Takayasu’s arteritis was described in 1908 by Dr. Mikito Takayasu at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Ophthalmology Society. Dr. Takayasu described a peculiar "wreathlike" appearance of blood vessels in the back of the eye (retina). Two Japanese colleagues at the same meeting reported similar eye findings in patients whose wrist pulses were absent. It is now known that the blood vessel malformations that occur in the retina are a response (new blood vessel growth) to arterial narrowings in the neck, and that the absence of pulses noted in some patients occur because of narrowings of blood vessels to the arms. The eye findings described by Dr. Takayasu are rarely seen in patients from North America. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The blood vessels are part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body. ... Human eye cross-sectional view. ... In medicine, a persons pulse is the throbbing of their arteries as an effect of the heart beat. ... Angiogenesis is the physiological process involving the formation of new blood vessels from pre_existing vessels. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is the third largest continent in area and in population after Eurasia and Africa. ...

Symptoms

About half of all patients develop an initial systemic illness with symptoms of malaise, fever, night sweats, weight loss, arthralgias, and fatigue. There is often an anemia and marked elevation of the ESR. This phase gradually subsides and is followed by a more chronic stage characterized by inflammatory and obliterative changes in the aorta and its branches. The other half of patients with Takayasu's arteritis present with only late vascular changes, without an antecedent systemic illness. In the late stage, weakness of the arterial walls may give rise to localized aneurysms. The term symptom (from the Greek syn = con/plus and pipto = fall, together meaning co-exist) has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health: A symptom can be a physical condition which shows that one has a particular illness or disorder (see e. ... Malaise is a term used to refer to a general state of discomfort, tiredness, or illness. ... Fever is also the name of an album by Kylie Minogue. ... Night sweats may be a symptom of: Tuberculosis HIV Hodgkins disease Brucellosis Subacute endocarditis Chronic pneumonia Pulmonary histoplasmosis See also Sleep Hyperhydrosis Sign (medicine) Categories: Stub ... In the context of physical health, weight loss is the process of losing body weight, usually by losing fat. ... In Wikipedia, fatigue can mean: Fatigue (physical) - tiredness in humans Fatigue (material) - failure by repeated stress in materials Fatigues (uniform) - military uniform Battle fatigue - also known as Post-traumatic stress disorder Readers fatigue Voter fatigue This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might... Anemia ( American English) or anaemia ( Commonwealth English), which literally means without blood, is a lack of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin. ... The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), also called a sedimentation rate, sed rate or Biernacki Reaction, is a non-specific measure of inflammation that is commonly used as a medical screening test. ... Medicine In medicine, a persistent and lasting condition is said to be chronic (from Greek chronos). ... An aneurysm (or aneurism) (from Greek ανευρυσμα, a dilatation) is a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel. ...

Treatments

The great majority of patients with Takayasu’s arteritis respond to prednisone. The usual starting dose is approximately 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight per day (for most people, this is approximately 60 milligrams a day). Because of the significant side effect|side–effects of long-term high–dose prednisone use, the starting dose is tapered over several weeks to a dose that the physician feels is tolerable for the patient. Prednisolone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug which is usually taken orally and can be used for a large number of different conditions. ... Adverse effect in medicine is an abnormal, harmful, undesired and/or unintended side-effect, although not necessarily unexpected, which is obtained as the result of a therapy or other medical intervention, such as drug/ chemotherapy, physical therapy, surgery, medical procedure, use of a medical device, etc. ... A physician is a person who practices medicine. ...

External links

• Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center Discusses Takayasu's Arteritis (http://vasculitis.med.jhu.edu/typesof/takayasu.html)
• Takayasu's Arteritis Foundation (http://www.takayasu.org)
• Takayasu's Arteritis Association (http://www.takayasus.com)