Myasthenia Gravis
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a disorder in which the
muscles become weak due to decreased signals reaching the muscles (from
the nerves) due to a defect in the receptors. The defect in the
receptors due to autoantibodies (antibodies to self).
Typically the weakness is
in the muscles that control the eyes, throat and the limb muscles but
sometimes very unusual presentations are seen. A characteristic feature
of the weakness in myasthenic patients is that the symptoms wax and wane
- being more severe after exercise, exhaustion and by the end of the
day. Many patients are nearly normal in the mornings. Because of this
waxing and waning myasthenia is often mistaken for easy fatigability and
hence the diagnosis is delayed.
Sometimes the disease is just confined to the eye
muscles alone - in that case it is termed occular myasthenia, which is a
very benign illness.
MG is one of the very gratifying illnesses to treat
and excellent outcomes are quite common - of course the initial part of
the illness requires a lot of investigations and sometimes surgery as
well.
Patients with MG need to follow their neurologists
advice very carefully as sometimes minor deviations lead to major
complications. There are several medications that patients with MG need
to avoid.
Here are few links of interest:
Links for
patients
Great information on MG
MG from the
wikipedia
MG explained simply
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