Exercise may have anti-inflammatory effects in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies
FRIDAY, Feb. 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Exercise may benefit patients with adult and juvenile myositis, according to research published online Feb. 8 in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Helene Alexanderson, P.T., Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, reviewed the evidence for the safety and efficacy of exercise in patients with adult and juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.
Alexanderson identified five randomized controlled trials of exercise in muscle disease, including a study in adult patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis, and additional open studies. Growing evidence suggests that exercise may reduce impairment and activity limitation, and improve quality of life, in patients with myositis. In addition, recent studies have shown that exercise reduces both disease activity and the expression of genes that regulate inflammation and fibrosis.
“Larger studies are needed to increase understanding of the effects of exercise in patients with active, recent-onset polymyositis and dermatomyositis as well as in patients with inclusion body myositis and juvenile dermatomyositis,” Alexanderson writes.
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