Myasthenia Gravis Research Paper

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a chronic state that causes muscles to tire and weaken easily. The meaning of the term Myasthenia Gravis is broken up, My means Muscle, asthenia means lack of strength and Gravis means serious. In an autoimmune disorder the immune system attacks parts of the body. The part of the body that is attacked by the circulation of antibodies, is the muscular system, and in certain receptors for acetylcholine on muscle cells at the neuromuscular junctions.

An overview of the disease:

MG patients have only one-third of the normal numbers of acetylcholine receptors which causes weak and easily fatigued muscles. The muscles under voluntary control are affected. The heart muscles, which are under involuntary control, are not affected. In MG generally, the muscles that control the eye and eyelid movement are affected first, causing the eyelids to sag. Some MG patients may develop double or blurred vision. When only the eye muscles are affected, the disease is known as Ocular Myasthenia. Disease symptoms affecting the facial muscles leads to limitations of facial expressions. Victims have difficulty smiling and expressing emotions on their face.

When the throat muscles are affected, this causes problems with speech, swallowing , and chewing. Patients may choke easily and their speech is often nasal due to the weakness of the velar muscles. The arm and leg muscles may weaken affecting activities like lifting or walking, with some patients appearing to wobble. There may be a loss of balance and an uncoordinated walk. It would be difficult to hold or grab on to objects with weakened arm muscles. Approximately 15% of MG patients have a thymoma. In most cases the tumour is not harmful and can be treated. Breath...

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... are sent through the electrodes to measure how well the nerves can send a signal to the muscle and to determine whether signals get worse when the muscle is tired.

Single-fiber electromyography: Measures the electrical activity that flows between the brain and the muscle.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging: This scan may be performed to identify a thymoma.

Prophylaxis or treatment of the disease

Firstly you could remove the thymus gland which oversees much of the immunes response. Secondly, create intravenous antibodies to bind and inactivate the ones causing the damage. Thirdly, you could invest in cholinesterase inhibitors to improve communication between nerves and muscles which helps the affected muscles contract properly and maintain good strength. You could also do a plasma exchange transfusion which rapidly removes the damaging antibodies from the circulation.