Major advances have been made in the field of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), or myositis, that are likely to facilitate development of new therapeutic strategies that have not yet been applied in this group of diseases. These advances include new classification criteria to better identify the patients with IIM, detection of several new myositis-specific autoantibodies that facilitates subgrouping of patients into more specific clinical phenotypes, development of outcome measures for disease activity, and new response criteria. We have learned from clinical studies that exercise is an important part of treatment and that pharmacologic treatment should be combined with exercise.

Division of Rheumatology Department of Medicine Karolinska Institutet D2 01 Karolinska University Hospital Solna S 171 76 Stockholm Sweden

Division of Rheumatology Department of Medicine Karolinska Institutet D2 01 Karolinska University Hospital Solna S 171 76 Stockholm Sweden; Divison of Physical Therapy Department of NVS Karolinska Institutet Huddinge Stockholm Sweden; Function Area Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Karolinska University Hospital Solna Stockholm Sweden

Institute of Rheumatology Na Slupi 4 12850 Praha 2 Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Vitamin D and its receptor in skeletal muscle are associated with muscle disease manifestation, lipid metabolism and physical fitness of patients with myositis

Effect of an 8-Week Tailored Physiotherapy Program on Sexual Health in Women with Scleroderma and Myositis: A Controlled Pilot Study

Hsp90 as a Myokine: Its Association with Systemic Inflammation after Exercise Interventions in Patients with Myositis and Healthy Subjects

Cardiovascular Risk in Myositis Patients Compared to the General Population: Preliminary Data From a Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study

Hsp90 Levels in Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies and Their Association With Muscle Involvement and Disease Activity: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study

Sexual function in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: a cross-sectional study

The effect of a 24-week training focused on activities of daily living, muscle strengthening, and stability in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: a monocentric controlled study with follow-up