What do inflammatory muscle diseases (myositis), myasthenia gravis, Lambert-Eaton syndrome, and dozens of other disorders like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, have in common?

"Since being on prednisone, I’ve been up and down with my weight and up and down with the milligram dosage,” says Carlie Brinker. “I’m 19, and I’ve been on prednisone for 11 years.”

It seems as if everybody wants information about you these days. Try to get that rebate the salesman promised on your new computer, and the company wants to know how old you are, how much money you make and whether you went to college.

Phone surveys want to know what you think of your congressional representative, whether you’re planning to sell your house and what radio stations you listen to.

*Note: In the print edition of Quest, this article was titled "Rounding Up the Usual -- and Not So Usual -- Suspects."

The scene is familiar to everyone who watches crime dramas. The safe has been opened, and the hotel guests' jewelry and other valuables are missing. What happened, and when, and who's responsible?

Cardiac problems are common in several neuromuscular disorders. They can be quite serious, particularly in Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD and BMD). In this, the first of a two-part series, we'll explore cardiomyopathy, the type of heart problem that's found most often in DMD and BMD and also occurs in some other neuromuscular conditions. (Read Part 2 of this series.)