Myasthenia Gravis, a serious muscle weakness is a rare chronic autoimmune disease that affects your muscle movement. There is weakness and fatigue of the muscles that are under voluntary control. It is caused by a failure in communication between your nerves and muscles. In the United States, this is such a rare disease that only 14 to 20 people for every 100,000 are affected by it.

Two of the causes of myasthenia gravis can be antibodies or the thymus gland. The antibodies of someone with myasthenia gravis blocks or destroys the muscles’ receptor sites for acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, which receives nerve signals. With the receptors being blocked or destroyed the muscles receive fewer signals which lead to weakness. Antibodies also can block tyrosine kinase, which is a protein that helps form the nerve-muscular junction. The thymus gland is located in the upper chest under the breastbone, which is believed to be what begins or continues to have the antibodies blocking or destroying acetylcholine. The symptoms vary because it can affect different muscle groups. In your eye muscles, you can suffer from drooping eyelids or double vision. When your face and throat muscles are affected you can suffer from difficulty swallowing, hard time chewing, and altered speaking. You will feel too tired to use arms and hands, too tired to hold up neck if your neck and limb muscles are affected. This disease has no cure but there are treatments to help you live a normal life.

Treatment includes medications, therapies, and in some cases surgery. For someone with this disease it is important to sleep well, rest, stress less, and adjust daily routines to help you have more energy. If you’d like a second opinion on the treatment you are receiving, contact us for your peace of mind and the peace of mind of your loved ones.