Myasthenia gravis occurs when the nerves are unable to give signals to the muscles to perform specific actions e.g standing, gripping an object, opening your mouth and eyes etc.
CAUSES: It is an autoimmune condition. That is the body’s immune system attacks the Healthy body structures or tissues mistaking it for an infectious or foreign particle
It can also be caused by an overaction or tumour of the thymus gland.
There are usually three types of Myasthenia gravis and they are 1. Autoimmune Myasthenia gravis 2. Neonatal MG 3. Congenital MG. The first one affects women of ages between 20 and 40 and men above 60yrs of age. while the last two affects babies
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY: Normally for muscular activity to occur, the nerve release a substance called acetylcholine. This acetylcholine travels and binds itself to the receptors on the muscle site and trigger a contraction of the muscle
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS: Difficulty sitting up, difficulty opening the mouth and eyes, difficulty lifting hands, difficulty breathing
When the body’s antibodies destroys all the acetylcholine receptors on the muscle site. The acetylcholine will not be able to bind to any receptor to trigger muscular contraction
TREATMENT : For auto immune myasthenia gravis, there is usually no cure. But it’s usually advised that the patient gets enough rest.
MG crisis is triggered when the individual is stressed, hence rest is advised so that the muscles can gain strength.