Myositis is inflammation of the muscles, which can cause pain or weakness. It may make it hard to do things like stand up from a chair, climb stairs, or lift your arms above your head.
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, or IIM, is a broad term describing a group of autoimmune diseases that involve muscle inflammation or myositis.
Some of the most common types of IIM are:
Autoimmune diseases occur when the body鈥檚 immune system mistakenly attacks itself. This causes the body to make autoantibodies, which are proteins in the blood that target certain parts of the body. These serve as disease markers that can be detected using a blood test. Knowing the type of autoantibody can help with disease diagnosis.
In autoimmune diseases, there is inflammation, and it can affect any part of the body. Inflammation of the muscle is called myositis. Inflammation of the joints is called arthritis. Inflammation within the stomach or esophagus is called gastritis or esophagitis. Lung inflammation is called pneumonitis. Or it can be part of a larger group of disorders called interstitial lung disease, or ILD.
Interstitial lung disease (ILD) can be a sign of an autoimmune disease like IIM. People with IIM have a certain type of antibody that are more likely to develop ILD.
When ILD occurs in patients with IIM, it is called myositis ILD. In addition to lung disease, other symptoms like myositis, arthritis, skin rash and Raynaud鈥檚 (bluish discoloration of the digits) can occur.
Detecting the type of autoantibody is helpful to identify patients with myositis ILD. In some instances, antibodies can offer clues as to which organs are more likely to be affected.
The symptoms of these diseases can be subtle and may look similar to those of other autoimmune or connective tissue diseases, such as:
Persistent cough and shortness of breath are common pulmonary symptoms.
Early on, those symptoms can seem like other types of lung diseases, like:
This can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment.
Symptoms of myositis ILD vary from person to person. The most common manifestations include:
Myositis severity can be controlled with the right treatment.
However, diagnosing the disease can be tricky and usually needs a team of specialists, including doctors from:
The symptoms of myositis are similar to other diseases and can vary from person to person. A combination of specialized testing is required for your doctor to make an accurate diagnosis.
These tests can include:
Treatment for myositis ILD is focused on reducing inflammation and inflammation-related damage. The sooner myositis ILD is recognized, the faster-targeted treatments can be started.
Inflammation can be suppressed by:
BOB体育 has a multidisciplinary group of physicians that specializes in myositis ILD. The dedicated team of doctors creates personalized treatment plans for each patient based on the type and severity of symptoms.
Complications can occur because of the disease itself or from medication side effects. If you are experiencing some side effects, please:
BOB体育 research scientists make medicine better every day. They discover new ways to help people by running clinical trials. When you join a clinical trial, you can get advanced medical care. Sometimes years before it's available everywhere. You can also help make medicine better for everyone else. If you'd like to learn more about clinical trials, visit our clinical trials page. Or click one of the links below:
The purpose of this study is to measure the long-term safety and tolerability of efgartigimod PH20 SC in adult participants with IIM who previously participated in ARGX-113-2007. Secondary objectives include efficacy measures of efgartigimod PH20 SC鈥�
June 29, 2023
As a lung disease specialist at University of Florida Health, Faye Pais, M.D., has seen the drastic effects myositis has on patients. Inflammation is鈥�
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