Dermatomyositis

I read an article in Discover Magazine that was titled, “Vital Signs.” This article explained that people should be more cautious when they develop a skin condition and go to the doctor immediately, instead of writing the condition off as eczema. Dermatomyositis is a skin condition that causes rashes and is sometimes found in people who have cancer. This skin disease is relatively rare in patients with ovarian cancer but found more often in people who have colon, pancreas, lung, or breast cancer. Patients with these types of cancers are found to have this skin condition 10-15% of the time.

The specific case listed in this article was that of Martha Dodd who would later be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She originally noticed a weird rash on her body which she just dismissed as eczema as she was an older woman and had just gone through menopause and her body was changing a lot. Not only did she have a bad skin rash but her muscles began to ache a lot too. As the skin rash began to spread and other symptoms became evident she mentioned it to her family doctor. Originally, he thought it was a less dangerous rash and put her on steroids. The steroids only worked for a short while though and then the rash returned. She went back to the doctor and after numerous tests he diagnosed her with ovarian cancer. Most women know that ovarian cancer is extremely dangerous. The survival rates of this disease are not good unless it is found almost immediately. Luckily, Martha survived after having extensive surgery and going through chemotherapy. Much of this could have been prevented though if she would have been diagnosed sooner. This leads me to conclude that no matter how small the rash or symptom may be it is always good to have a doctor check it out. This article also brought me to realize that rashes can mean there is something much more serious going on inside of your body.

This video explains Dermatomytosis in more depth and explains many of the symtoms that Martha Dodd experienced including the muscle problems and the rash.