Can Giant Cell Arteritis be Prevented and Ameliorated with Magnesium and a Recently-Discovered Biologic, HDFx?

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is characterized as an inflammatory condition of the body's large and medium arteries. GCA can be considered a form of vasculitis, and it usually is found in people older than the age of 50, being more prominent in women [1]. GCA is a disease that causes inflammations of various arteries with no known etiology and is most frequently found in people of Northern European origin [1,2]. GCA is thought to be an autoimmune disease affecting arterial vessels in the head, temporal lobes and neck and often, primarily those arterial vessels in the eyes accompanied by intense headaches, fever, and jaw pain while eating [1-3]. It often leads to permanent loss of vision in one or both eyes in 20-50% of the affected victims. In a number of patients, GCA has been associated with central arterial occlusions and hemorrhages in the retinas of the eyes and strokes [4,5]. GCA has also been associated with cardiac dysrhythmias and myocardial infarctions [1-5]. Often, the symptoms are very sudden in onset. GCA, in many cases, attacks arterial vessels going to the aorta leading to aneurysms within the artery and a great risk of rupture of this large blood vessel. In some patients, rapid treatment with aspirin and high-dose steroids can ameliorate many of the symptoms [1-3]. Do these pathophysiological events have any common, potential physiological and biochemical underlying etiologies?