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| Myositis
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Myositis, like every other disease brings not only negative
emotional sufferings but also significantly undermine the
health of its carrier. This disease is not widespread. What
happens to the organism is that “the immune system chronically
inflames the muscle tissue of the body”. The inflammation
does not only touch the muscles fibers but also the skin of
the sick person. Myositis may include such illnesses as: polymyositis,
dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. Polymyositis
is the stage of muscle inflammation and the stage when myositis
starts attacking the skin is called dermatomyositis. The major
problem concerning myositis is the difficulty to determine
the irritant triggering such behavior and harmful reaction
of the immune system in each individual situation. If the
inflammation happens over and over the muscles of the body
lose their tonus. They become weak, making it very hard to
move the parts of the body. It is not a disease that appears
suddenly. The development of the disease is rather slow and
that it why the symptoms do not start to disturb on early
phases. Myositis is suffered by the age categories starting
from childhood, between the ages of 5 and 15 and strikes adults
between the ages of 30 and 60. There are also no gender peculiarities,
as it touches both men and women.
The cause of myositis and its symptoms.
Generally speaking myositis is the result of abnormal immune
responses on healthy body tissues, which is exactly what a
normal body does in order to fight an illness. The cause of
the disease cannot be determined yet. As myositis attacks
muscle fibers the first symptom of this disease is muscular
weakness. This muscular weakness and sometimes pain usually
have places of concentration: shoulders and hips. The early
period of myositis with these places of pain concentration
is characterized by troubles to rise from a chair, to lift
and arm and even going upstairs. The organism stands walking
a lot by a narrow margin, because it makes the muscle pain
very strong. The patient may experience breath troubles due
to the possibility of myositis to spread to the muscles in
the front of the neck and throat and of lungs and chest. A
person with myositis is usually unable to stand for a long
time. Muscle swelling is also a symptom of the disease. The
process of the disease progression is usually accompanied
by fever. The progress of the weakness and pain later spreads
from the hips and shoulders and attacks the whole body and
the patients may even need a wheel-chair in order to be able
to move around.
Diagnosing myositis.
As it has been mention the cause of myositis is very hard
to determine. Hypothyroidism, toxin exposure, drug reactions
and genetic disorders are among the possible reasons of the
abnormal reaction of the immune system. The diagnosis of myositis
includes the analysis of the medical history with all the
symptoms the patients has every experienced. There are some
tests that came it easier to determine myositis. They are:
creatine kinase, various blood tests and taking an electromyogram.
Along with the blood test, the measurement of muscle patters
muscle biopsy is usually also required to pass. Muscle biopsy
analyzes in what way exactly the fibers are destroyed through
a little piece of a muscle taken from the body. The exact
area of the muscular inflammation is calculated with the help
of magnetic resonance imaging.
Possible treatment of myositis.
Unfortunately, there is no way to cure myositis. The only
way to help a person suffering from myositis is to weaken
the inflammation attacks on the body’s muscles. Nevertheless
part or almost complete remission may be achieved. Various
drugs usually suppress the disease, though these drugs sometimes
have side effects. These drugs are called immunosuppresants.
The most common medicament treatments in association with
myositis are corticosteroids. They are used to maintain the
immune system on the same level not letting it damage its
own organism. There are also some medicaments as aspirin or
ibuprofen, which are used for snap action relief.Both of them
belong to the group of medicaments called NSAIDS (nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs). Aside from the medical treatment
another important part of the myositis treatment is physical
exercising along with massaging the “weal areas”
with warming them up. Physiotherapy is often used as a possibility
to keep the patients of feet, constantly moving and able to
live a full-fledged life. The last but no the least component
of myositis treatment is rest. A person with myositis must
not overload himself with any kind of activity and take enough
time to keep the body vigorous.
Conclusion. Life with myositis is a constant fight for the
ability to move. It is a struggle that takes away a lot of
forces, but still the result may be rather close to a “normal
life of a healthy person” if the right medical treatment
is obtained.
Bibliography:
1. Kilpatrick, James R. “Coping with a Myositis Disease”
/Kilpatrick Publishing Company /2000.
2. Icon Health Publications “Myositis: A Medical Dictionary,
Bibliography”…/ Icon Health Publications / 2004.
3. http://www.myositis.org/about_myositis/faq_general.cfm
Myositis
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