Patients suffering from two serious autoimmune disorders which cause muscular inflammation are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, says a group of Montreal researchers.
Christian A Pineau and his team at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre ( RI-MUHC ) have linked muscular inflammation to increased cardiovascular risk for the first time.
The results are published in Journal of Rheumatology.

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are most common in women and seniors, although they can affect people of any age. Both diseases are caused by a hyperactive immune system which attacks healthy tissue, almost as if the body had become allergic to itself. This causes serious inflammation of muscle tissue in the body, leading to weakness, reduced mobility and, in the case of dermatomyositis, rashes. Muscles in the heart and the lungs may also be affected.

Inflammation has recently been recognized as a risk factor, along with hypertension and cholesterol problems, for arterial diseases that can lead to events such as myocardial infarctions. Nearly one in 5,000 people suffer from polymyositis and dermatomyositis, approximately 7,000 in Canada and 75,000 across North America.

The results of the study indicate that the risk of myocardial infarction is twice as high in these people as in the general population. Each year, one out of every 200 people with muscle inflammation, or myositis, succumbs to a stroke and one out of 75 to a myocardial infarction.

The researchers also noted that the immunosuppressive therapies currently used to treat polymyositis and dermatomyositis may have a preventive effect against heart attacks.

Source: McGill University Health Centre, 2009

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