On 30th October 2009, it was my 3rd hospitalization to treat Myasthenia Gravis (the doctors called it MG in short) within 2 years. I never expected that this chronic sickness could affect my life so much when I was first diagnosd with this sickness in late 2000. This sickness is not common, when I tried to explain it to my family and friends, most of them had problem understanding it. Hence I decided to create this blog to bring awareness to people on this sickness and hope to share my experiences with other MG patients.
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) comes from the Greek and Latin words meaning "grave muscula weakness" and is a chronic, autoimmune, neuromuscular junction disorder. The voluntary musces of the entire body are controlled by nerve impluses that arise in the brain. These nerve impulses travel down the nerves to the place where the nerves met the muscle fibers. There is a space between the nerve ending and muscle fiber and its called the neuromuscular junction. When the nerve impulse arrives at the nerve ending, it releases the neurotransmitter (a chemical called acetylcholine). Acetylcholine travel acrosses the space to the muscle fiber side of the neuromuscular junction where it attached to many receptors. This activates the receptor which generates a muscle contraction.
Myasthenia Gravis (MG) comes from the Greek and Latin words meaning "grave muscula weakness" and is a chronic, autoimmune, neuromuscular junction disorder. The voluntary musces of the entire body are controlled by nerve impluses that arise in the brain. These nerve impulses travel down the nerves to the place where the nerves met the muscle fibers. There is a space between the nerve ending and muscle fiber and its called the neuromuscular junction. When the nerve impulse arrives at the nerve ending, it releases the neurotransmitter (a chemical called acetylcholine). Acetylcholine travel acrosses the space to the muscle fiber side of the neuromuscular junction where it attached to many receptors. This activates the receptor which generates a muscle contraction.
In autoimmune disorder, the body produces antibodies against its own tissue. In MG patient, the antibodies block, interfere or destroy the receptors and prevent the transmission of nerve impulses to the muscles resulting in easy fatigability and fluctuating muscle weakness.
MG can affect any skeletal muscle in the body. It can affect muscles that control eyelids, eye movements, facial expression, chewing, swallowing, speech, respiration and limbs. Not all abovementioned symtoms are present in every patient or at the same time.
The symtoms is usually gradual but it can be sudden, with rapid deterioration of swallowing, breathing and generalised weakness. This is termed Myasthenic Crisis and it often requires hospitalization and urgent treatment. Infection and sudden withdrawal of treatment are common triggers.
MG affects all ethnic groups and both genders. It is more common in young adult women (under 40 years old) and older men (over 60 years old) but can affect all age groups. It can also occur in the newborn (usually from a myasethenic mother who passes the antibodies to the fetus) and children. In adults, MG is usually not hereditary and it is not contagious.
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