Myasthenia gravis is one of those insidious diseases, which are mainly affected by people at a young age. Literally from the Greek language this title is translated as "muscle impotence", which briefly describes the main symptom. Naturally, we are not talking about the usual muscle weakness, which people experience after physical exertion. Here the question is more serious - the pathological fatigue of the striated skeletal musculature, mainly the head and neck.
Features and Facts
For the first time the myasthenia gravis disease is described in the archives of the 17th century, and in the 19th century it acquired the official name. Adequate and effective drug treatment was applied in the middle of the 20th century, with constant improvement of drugs.
Myasthenia is classified as classical autoimmune diseases, that is, in which the human body begins pathological production of antibodies directed against its own healthy cells and tissues and the development of inflammatory reactions.
It is known that more often with signs of myasthenia gravis there are women, and the disease begins to manifest itself at a young age, from 20 to 40 years. There are also cases of congenital myasthenia gravis, which is presumably hereditary. The disease is very rare, about 0.01% of the population, but doctors are seeing a trend towards more frequent cases.
Known causes and mechanisms of myasthenia gravis development
The mechanism of myasthenia development is based on the violation or complete blocking of the work of the neuromuscular junctions. This occurs under the influence of antibodies, which are produced by the immune system (autoimmune reaction). Often, a large role in this process plays the thymus gland - the organ of the human immune system, in which a benign tumor is observed. With the congenital form of the disease, doctors call the primary causes the gene mutations of proteins, which directly participate in the construction of neuromuscular connections.
Doctors identify certain provoking factors that worsen the course of the disease:
- severe stress ;
- frequent respiratory viral and other colds;
- sharp climate change (hot countries);
- medicinal preparations (some antibiotics, beta-blockers, etc.).
Clinical manifestations
Myasthenia gravis manifests itself in various symptoms, which are combined into several forms:
- Eye. It is also often the first stage of the disease. It is manifested by lowering (ptosis) of eyelids (or one), strabismus, and double vision in the eyes, which can be observed both in the vertical and horizontal planes. Symptoms are usually dynamic - that is, they change throughout the day - they are weaker in the morning or absent, and worse by the evening.
- Bulbarnaya. Here, the muscles of the face and larynx are first affected, as a result of which the patient has a nasal voice, the face facial reactions worsen, and dysarthritic phenomena appear. Also, the swallowing and chewing functions can be disturbed, right in the middle of the meal. Usually, after rest, the functions are restored.
- Weakness in the muscles of the limbs and neck. Patients do not
can hold their head evenly, the gait is broken, it is difficult to raise hands or even get up from the chair. In this case, even a small physical load significantly increases the manifestations of the disease.
Myasthenia gravis can manifest itself both in local form and generalized, which is considered to be more severe, since it may impair the functions of the respiratory system. The disease has a progressive nature, with the appearance of prolonged myasthenic states, not passing at rest, as well as myasthenic crises, which can lead to death. Therefore, if you have any symptoms, you need to see a doctor.