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Information	Symptoms	Diagnosis	Treatment	Picture
Amyopathic	Juvenile	Polymyositis	Reaserch	Causes

Causes of Dermatomyositis

The causes of dermatomyositis are unknown. It appears that abnormal immunological factors are responsible for at least part of inflammatory attack against muscle tissue. The symptoms of muscular weakness usually wax and wane, but in some instances, the disease may progress rapidly.

In dermatomyositis the immune system attacks the body's own tissues, causing inflammation in the muscles and possibly the skin.

The disease may affect persons of any age, but the peak incidence is in the fifth and sixth decades of life. Women are affected twice as commonly as men.

What some doctors think causes Dermatomyositis

Because Dermatomyositis affects individuals differently , it also probably’ has many causes. Some doctors think they may be an autoimmune disease. ‘this means that it is a result of a defect in the immune system. which is the body’s natural defence against disease. in healthy people. The immune system
produces substances to attack disease agents Such as bacteria and viruses. In people with an autoimmune disease, there is a defect in the immune system that causes it to turn against the body’s own tissues.

Other doctors feel it may’ be started by a virus or the combination of a viral infection and defective immume system.

dermatomyositis picture

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