Miguatemala Health Blog

Archive for the ‘Myositis’ Category

Your doctor will ask about your symptoms. It is especially important to describe the exact location of any pain or weakness and duration of the disease. Your doctor will also review your medical history and current medications.

Then the doctor will examine you and pay special attention to your muscles and nerves. As you find your doctor may order diagnostic tests. Common tests used to diagnose muscle problems include:

- Blood tests that measure levels of muscle enzymes, autoantibodies (antibodies directed against its own cells or organs of the body) and antibodies to infectious agents loa. Read the rest of this entry »

Symptoms of myositis can include muscle weakness, muscle pain and muscle tenderness. Other symptoms vary depending on the specific cause of myositis:

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: These conditions typically cause painless muscle weakness that develops slowly over weeks, months or years. Although up to 40% of people with these conditions have muscle pain, weakness is usually worse than the pain. In polymyositis and dermatomyositis, weakness usually affects the muscles near the center of the body (called proximal muscles), including the muscles of the neck, shoulders and hips. Some patients also have difficulty swallowing.

In dermatomyositis, the skin symptoms are accompanied by muscle problems. These may include purple pigmentation on eyelids, a red rash on the face and neck or scaly patches, usually on the knuckles. In inclusion body myositis, weakness typically starts in the upper leg muscles and away from the center of the body (called distal muscles), including the muscles of the hands, wrists and upper legs. Muscle wasting (atrophy) is often very remarkable, and half of these patients have trouble swallowing. Read the rest of this entry »

Myositis is the medical term used to define muscle soreness. In myositis, inflammation damages the muscle fibers, causing muscle weakness because it impedes the ability of muscle contraction. Although myositis can cause muscle pain and muscle tenderness, weakness is usually the dominant symptom.

In some cases, myositis is a short-term problem that goes away after a few days or weeks. In other cases, is part of a chronic (long). Chronic forms of myositis can lead to muscle atrophy (wasting and shrinking) and severe disability.

There are many different types of myositis, including:

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: In this group of muscle diseases of unknown cause muscle inflammation (idiopathic). There are three major types: dermatomyositis, polymyositis and inclusion body myositis. In the United States, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies affect about 1 in 100,000 people. Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are most common in women, whereas inclusion body myositis affects men more frequently. Read the rest of this entry »