Why a Pulmonologist is Critical if You Have Antisynthetase Syndrome

Why a Pulmonologist is Critical if You Have Antisynthetase Syndrome  / theannetteleonard   or my website https://www.annetteleonard.com

It's the end of May and it's Myositis Awareness month. Myositis includes the inflammatory myopathies known as polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and inclusion body myositis. These are rare muscle-wasting diseases.

I have polymyositis as a part of my cluster of autoimmune diseases which is called antisynthetase syndrome. It is estimated that less than 50k people in the US have this systemic illness.

If you have a diagnosis of antisynthetase syndrome but don't yet have lung involvement: get a pulmonologist. Getting a baseline tests of how your lungs are functioning is important. If you wait until your disease is presenting in the lungs it's too late to go back and test how your lungs were doing before the disease started attacking your lungs. So ask to be referred to a pulmonologist if you haven't already seen one.

his is the Chronic Wellness Podcast. I'm Annette Leonard, speaker, coach, and sick person who believes that my illnesses do not define me. If health is the absence of disease and wellness is the presence of wholeness, then no matter what your disease status, we can work toward your wellness, your wholeness.

Whether or not you are ever "healthy" on paper, you can be well. Join me and others on the path back to wholeness at AnnetteLeonard.com. Whether you are a person experiencing chronic illness or are someone who loves or serves people with chronic illness I have great resources here on this channel or on my website for you.