{"id":5793,"date":"2021-12-09T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/neurology\/myasthenia-gravis-causes-symptoms-and-treatment\/"},"modified":"2021-12-09T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T19:30:00","slug":"myasthenia-gravis-causes-symptoms-and-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/neurology\/myasthenia-gravis-causes-symptoms-and-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Myasthenia gravis: causes, symptoms and treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is not uncommon to meet someone who suffers from an autoimmune disease, since today, around 5% of the population suffers from one of them<\/strong>. And it is that every day, thanks to scientific research, it is possible to find the explanation for many diseases that until now the cause was unknown, from the perspective of autoimmune problems. Knowing the mechanism by which these disorders develop helps the scientific community to find solutions that can improve the quality of life of people suffering from these complex diseases.<\/p>\n

The problems caused by an autoimmune disease are caused by the body itself, which, due to a failure in its functioning, the immune system detects its own structures and tissues as foreign and begins to attack them. Depending on the organ or tissue that it attacks, it will cause one condition or another, and that is why we know such a variety of autoimmune diseases that affect all types of organs.<\/p>\n

The trigger for these diseases is still not entirely clear, but what is known is that there is a hereditary component and environmental factors that can be triggers to activate the immune system such as diet, tobacco, psychological, climatic or hormonal factors, among others. Autoimmune diseases tend to occur more frequently in women, young adults, and in patients with a family history.<\/p>\n

Myasthenia gravis affects the muscles responsible for voluntary movement<\/strong>, since the immune system in this case attacks the communication between the nerves and the muscles, preventing their proper functioning. In today's article we will learn more about this disease, knowing its causes, symptoms and treatment.<\/p>\n

What is myasthenia gravis?<\/h2>\n

Myasthenia gravis, which is also known as myasthenia gravis, is a disease in which nerve impulses cannot be transmitted correctly between nerves and muscles.<\/strong> Due to the fact that these patients have a reduced number of acetylcholine receptors, those responsible for carrying out this nerve-muscle communication. The reduction is due to the fact that your immune system attacks these structures that it recognizes as foreign through the action of antibodies, thus causing serious problems.<\/p>\n

Because its origin is a problem in the immune system against the body itself, it is an autoimmune disease, as we have commented previously. There are other diseases that can cause symptoms similar to myasthenia gravis and therefore sometimes its diagnosis can take a little longer than normal, as it is mistaken for another condition. Diagnostic tests include blood, nerve, muscle, and imaging tests.<\/p>\n

The most common symptoms of this disease are related to the muscles, usually initiating a feeling of fatigue when performing physical activity and that seems to recover with rest. As the affected muscle is used, the symptoms get worse. Myasthenia gravis can affect any muscle, but there is a group of them that are more common among which are the eyelids, muscles of the face and throat, muscles of the neck and those of the arms and legs.<\/p>\n

There is no treatment to cure the disease, but there are drugs that allow living with it, improving the quality of life of patients<\/strong>. Drugs are used that restore part of the communication between the nerves and the muscles that results in an improvement in muscle weakness. Other medicines prevent the body from producing so many antibodies, thus reducing the negative effects, but this also causes a suppression of the immune system, a risk factor for infectious diseases.<\/p>\n

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Causes of myasthenia gravis<\/h2>\n

As we have already discussed, myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that causes weakness in voluntary muscles. Nerves communicate with muscles using chemicals called neurotransmitters that activate cell receptors in muscles and cause them to contract. Let's say neurotransmitters are the words that nerves use, and muscles \"hear\" them through those receptors, which act like ears.<\/p>\n

In myasthenia gravis, the immune system produces antibodies that block and destroy many of the receptors in the muscles<\/strong>, as if it were a cap. With fewer receptors available, the muscles receive fewer nerve signals, which even if they are emitted, they are unable to detect, and this is what causes the characteristic muscle weakness of this disorder.<\/p>\n

Antibodies can also block the function of a specific protein that is involved in the formation of the neuromuscular junction. Scientists continue to work on obtaining answers to many of the questions that remain in the air regarding this disease. Many antibodies have been reported to cause this disease, and the number of implicated antibodies is likely to increase over time.<\/p>\n

The thymus is also part of the immune system<\/strong>, which is why many researchers believe that this gland triggers or maintains active the production of antibodies that block the function of the muscles. In some adults who suffer from this pathology, the thymus is larger than normal or they have a tumor that causes its activity to be greater than that of a healthy person.<\/p>\n

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Symptoms of myasthenia gravis<\/h2>\n

Although myasthenia gravis can have different manifestations depending on the patient, the clinical picture is mainly characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, always related to physical activity<\/strong>, which gets worse throughout the day and usually recovers when the person is at rest. However, symptoms usually tend to worsen over time, reaching their worst a few years after the onset of the disease.<\/p>\n

Usually, the first symptoms that appear are drooping of the eyelids and double vision, clinical manifestations that are located in the musculature of the eye and that appear in up to more than 50% of patients suffering from this disorder. In 15% of the cases of people with myasthenia gravis, the first symptoms are related to the muscles of the face and throat that can lead to impaired speech, difficulty swallowing and chewing, and changing facial expressions.<\/p>\n

Myasthenia gravis can also cause weakness in the neck, arms, and legs.<\/strong>, affecting the way of walking and the ability to keep the head stable. Unlike other diseases, the effects on the muscles are not symmetrical, that is, one side of the body is often more affected than the other.<\/p>\n

There are factors that can aggravate the pathology such as suffering from an infection, stress, a certain type of medication, pregnancy or even menstrual periods. The most common symptoms are not usually life-threatening, but they can be aggravated to the point of causing weakness in the respiratory muscles and lead to respiratory failure requiring hospital admission. This situation is known as a myasthenic crisis and it can occur on certain occasions.<\/p>\n

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Treatment of myasthenia gravis<\/h2>\n

The first choice usually made by healthcare professionals is anticholinesterase drugs<\/strong>, whose action is to block the degradation of acetylcholine that occurs normally in our body. As we have said, it is about the molecules that act as messengers. With this treatment it is achieved that there are more of these molecules and therefore, despite the fact that the receptor is damaged, the muscle can receive more signal and work better. This treatment does not modify the evolution of the disease but it is useful to reduce the symptoms.<\/p>\n

As it is an autoimmune disease, to prevent it from escalating, intravenous corticosteroids or immunoglobulins are used as an alternative to reduce the activity of the immune system, although the latter is only used in the most severe cases due to its high cost, but It is very useful in these situations for quick action. In all these cases, they are temporary treatments that must be administered repeatedly to keep the disease under control.<\/p>\n

Another treatment that is usually performed is the removal of the thymus<\/strong> (thymectomy) and is the second option after treatment with anticholinesterase drugs and before using intravenous immunoglobulins. In this case, improvement is achieved in 85% of patients. In the myasthenic crisis that we have talked about previously, the patient must be kept in the ICU to control their breathing and oxygen saturation and try to solve the triggering factor of said crisis, which is often an infection.<\/p>\n

In short, it is a disease that can be very disabling and much more research is needed to find a treatment that works and can completely eliminate the problems caused by the autoimmune attack.<\/p>\n

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