When people become sick with dermatomyositis (DM) they have an inflammatory skin rash and inflammation of the voluntary muscles. The patients experience muscle weakness which gets worse.
The DM most often starts with a speedy, severe onset of symptoms. Patients eventually become so weak they have trouble with daily routine activities such as standing up after sitting down, climbing stairs or lifting objects. Other organs such as the lungs may also become diseased.
The symptoms are often treated with prednisone which is a corticosteroid drug used to decrease the inflammation. Other corticosteroid drugs can be used but that family of drugs ...
