To prevent polymyositis (inflammatory disease of the muscles), attention must be paid to reducing individual risk factors.
If autoimmune disposition is present, the following provoking factors (triggers) may be considered:
- Muscle strain
- Viral infections (coxsackie, picorna viruses).
- Medications (rare):
- Allopurinol (urostatic drug/for treatment of elevated uric acid levels).
- Antimalarials such as chloroquine
- D-penicillamine (antibiotic)
- Interferon alpha (antiviral and antitumor effects).
- Procainamide (local anesthetic)
- Simvastatin (statins; lipid-lowering drugs)
- If necessary, others, see under differential diagnoses / drugs.