Does lupus affect a mans CPK level? Will lifting weights cause my lupus to get worse?
A. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) is an enzyme found mainly in the heart, brain, and skeletal muscle. A person’s CPK level can be affected by lupus, and may be increased by a heart attack, brain injury or stroke, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), dermatomyositis (muscle weakness with skin rash), polymyositis (muscle weakness especially in the muscles closest to the torso, such as shoulders and hips), or pulmonary infarction (lung tissue death). In fact, a little myositis, or general muscle inflammation, is common in the acute stages of lupus or during a lupus flare. When you lift weights, you also raise your CPK levels. The idea is that if you have muscle inflammation, you might release more muscle antigen (which the body sees as foreign) and make your symptoms worse. This is a theory, but I do not subscribe to it. I believe that the aerobic effects of exercise far outweigh the downside of releasing small amounts of antigen. — Robert Lahita, M.D., Ph.D. Q. What diseases ar
