Introduction

This blog has been created to generate much needed awareness of the various types of Juvenile Myositis (JM) including Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) and Juvenile Polymyositis (JPM) in Australia. Briefly, these are rare, complex autoimmune diseases that cause inflammation of the muscles and affect children and adolescents. These diseases can also affect the joints, skin and organs. Although treatments are available and recovery rates are high, there is no known cure.

I am hoping that this blog can be of some help to people who are affected by JM. As a former Juvenile Dermatomyositis patient, I believe I can provide some insight into this particular condition.

The help goes two ways, although I'm hoping this blog can help people, we also need YOUR help. We need more people to know more about Juvenile Myositis. We need to educate the public including relatives, doctors, teachers and friends. Together, we can understand Juvenile Myositis better and ultimately find cures to these terrible diseases.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myositis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_dermatomyositis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymyositis

To give you some understanding of what it's like to be a teenager with a form of Myositis, Morgan, my friend in America, has put together a couple of videos about her experience with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. Please find time to watch this clip.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrAZtCST_mU