If any of your arteries are chronically inflamed, and if the inflammation causes thickening of their lining and a reduction in the amount of blood that they can carry, you have the disease known as arteritis. If the disease affects the aorta, then it is called aortitis. Temporal arteritis gets its name because the arteries chiefly affected are the two that run behind the temples in your scalp. These temporal arteries are branches of the carotid arteries, which supply blood to your head and brain. Temporal arteritis affects mainly people over 55.
Women are twice as susceptible to the condition as are men.
The most common symptom of temporal arteritis is a dull, throbbing headache on one or both sides of your forehead. The artery that is the source of the headache may be swollen, red, and tender if you touch it. Among other possible symptoms are mild fever, loss of weight, loss of appetite, and a generalized muscular ache. Such muscle aches, however, are more characteristic of a similar disease called polymyalgia rheumatic. A serious symptom is blurring of vision or temporary loss of eyesight in one eye.