Takayasu arteritis
This type of arteritis is most common in females, with a median age of 25 years. Takayasu arteritis is more common in women of Asian descent who are in their reproductive years. However, over the past decades, its incidence  in Africa, Europe, and North America has been increasing. Takayasu arteritis is an inflammatory disease that mainly affects the larger vessels such as the aorta and its surrounding branches. Research focused on Takayasu arteritis in the western parts of the world remains limited. An estimation suggests that, each year, the number of cases per million people is 2.6. Temporal arteritis
Temporal arteritis, the second type of giant cell arteritis, is also a chronic, inflammatory disease involving mid- to large-sized arteries. Temporal arteritis has a higher incidence in people of Scandinavian descent. However, the incidence rate differs based on population, region and races. Temporal arteritis is not uncommon in North America. The incidence rate is around 0.017% for individuals over 50 years of age.Symptoms of temporal arteritis are classified as specific and nonspecific.Nonspecific symptoms:
Headache
Low grade fever
Sweating
Anorexia (loss of appetite)
Weight loss
General malaiseSpecific symptoms:
Claudication of the jaw
Engorged, tender vesselsSpecific symptoms usually develop in the advanced stages of temporal arteritis.Polyarteritis nodosa of  unknown mechanism can cause testicular pain. It is often associated with aneurysms and Hepatitis B. Treatment
Medications
The first-line treatment for arteritis is oral glucocorticoid (steroid) medication, such as prednisone, taken daily for a period of three months. After this initial phase, the medication may be reduced in dose or frequency, e.g. every other day, if possible.
If the disease worsens with the new treatment schedule, a cytotoxic medication may be given, in addition to the glucocorticoid. Commonly used cytotoxic agents include azathioprine, methotrexate, or cyclophosphamide. The dose of glucocorticoid medication may be decreased if response to treatment is good. This medication may be reduced gradually once the disease becomes inactive, slowly tapering the dose (to allow the body time to adjust) until the medication may be stopped completely. Conversely, if the disease remains active, the medication will need to be increased. After six months, if the medication cannot be reduced in frequency to alternate days, or if in 12 months the medications cannot be stopped completely, then treatment is deemed to have failed.Pulsed therapy is an alternative method of administering the medications above, using much higher doses over a short period of time (a pulse), to reduce the inflammation within the arteries. Methylprednisolone, a glucocorticoid, is often used for pulse therapy; cyclophosphamide is an alternative. This method has been shown to be successful for some patients. Immunosuppressive pulse therapy, such as with cyclophosphamide, has also demonstrated relief of symptoms associated with arteritis. References


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