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Exercise strengthens the muscles and seems to reduce the inflammation. Training could even be introduced as early treatment, says professor Ingrid Lundberg at Karolinska Institutet. Not so long ago it was a firm belief that exercise was harmful for people suffering from RA or myositis.

— Patients were recommended to avoid physical training because it could make the inflammation worse. But for the past ten years many clinical studies have showed that it is the other way around. Light or moderate regular training actually seems to have a significant anti-inflammatory effect, says professor Lundberg who is about to publish an AutoCure-led study on a small cohort
of myositis-patients who trained with intensive resistance exercise for seven weeks.

— Our patients were ordinated up to one hour of intensive resistance exercise, including stretching, situps and gym machines,
three days out of five in a week. The clinical effects were obvious. Biopsies showed a decrease in the inflammatory process.

—A training program with moderate intensity has been undertaken in newly diagnosed myositis patients likewise without any
sings of increased inflammation It could be important to start the training as soon as possible after the diagnosis, since
cortisone treatment affects the muscles negatively. The clear clinical results in these and other studies could lead to new treatment
models. — We need to find an effective combination of immunosuppressive drugs and exercise, continues professor Lundberg
who thinks that its most likely that exercise will be a normal part of the doctors prescription in the near future.

— It is necessary to design a good standardised training programme for myositis-patients. This, as well as other studies on the benefits of physical training, could hopefully be done within the AutoCure-network who has access to the world largest cohort of myositis patients