A new treatment for a rare and often incurable condition called dermatomyositis (DM) reduced the severity of the disease in patients whose DM was resistant to other therapies. As part of a randomized, double-blind study, 22 patients were given either a drug called anabasum or a placebo. The 11 patients who got the drug improved during the trial, with less severe skin disease and better patient-reported quality of life and symptom assessments.