Resources

Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis, a form of idiopathic inflammatory myositis, is a chronic, rare, inflammatory, clinically heterogenous, and sometimes life-threatening autoimmune disease affecting approximately 80,000 people in North America, EU and Japan.¹ The signs and symptoms of dermatomyositis reflect multi-organ involvement, which includes distinctive skin rashes usually accompanied by proximal muscle weakness, and can also include pulmonary, cardiac, gastrointestinal, and joint involvement.² Patients with dermatomyositis can have recurrent disease flares or chronic progressive disease activity with increased mortality.^3,4  The current mainstay of treatments include FDA-approved systemic glucocorticoids and off-label use of glucocorticoid-sparing immunosuppressive or immunomodulating agents. ^5,6 There is significant unmet need for new treatments to achieve disease control in dermatomyositis because of limited efficacy or toxicity of immunosuppressive agents or refractory disease.^7,8

Many additional resources are available to help you learn more about DM and DM research. Here are just a few:

• Myositis Association
• Myositis Support and Understanding
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
• Clinical Trials
• Mayo Clinic

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a form of lupus, is a systemic autoimmune disease affecting more than 200,000 Americans.^9,10 SLE occurs when the immune system is activated and attacks different parts of the body, leading to widespread inflammation that can affect many different body parts, including a person's joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs.^10,11 Each person with SLE has slightly different symptoms that can range from mild to severe, depending on which body parts are affected by the disease.¹⁰ Symptoms may include arthritis, extreme fatigue, red rashes, hair loss, sensitivity to the sun, mouth sores, and pale or purple fingers and toes when exposed to cold or stress. Although SLE is most often a disease that one can live with for decades, it is ranked among the top 20 leading causes of death in young women.¹² Medicines specifically approved by the FDA for treatment of SLE are aspirin, hydroxychloroquine, corticosteroids (for example, prednisone), a repository corticotropin injection, and the immunosuppressive drug belimumab.¹⁰ Other drugs that are not FDA-approved for SLE but are often prescribed by physicians include methotrexate, mycophenolate, azathioprine and cyclophosphamide. These treatments may be associated with significant side effects, including serious infections.

Many additional resources are available to help you learn more about lupus and lupus research. Here are just a few:

• Lupus Foundation of America
• Lupus and Allied Diseases Association
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
• Clinical Trials
• Mayo Clinic