Myasthenia gravis (MG) patients who undergo thymectomy — surgery to remove the thymus gland — have a reduced risk of pulmonary infection and a shorter stay in intensive care when taken off mechanical ventilation support, called extubation, within six hours after surgery, a study suggests. The study, “Early extubation…

People with myasthenia gravis can develop psychiatric symptoms, including depression and insomnia. However, recommendations regarding safe medication are insufficient. In this case study, clinicians suggest that alpha-blockers are a potential safe therapeutic option for relieving insomnia and anxiety in a female myasthenia gravis patient. The case report, “Management of…

Examining differences in the activity of certain genes may help explain why some patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) develop a difficult-to-treat form of the disease in the eyes. Researchers used laboratory models derived from patient cells to re-create MG muscle cells, and study their gene activity. The findings…

Placebo-treated myasthenia gravis (MG) patients experience as many adverse events as those receiving an active treatment during clinical trials, but this leads to few participant dropouts — and should not represent a problem for patient compliance to placebo during trials, a grouped analysis of studies shows. The study, “…

The presence of autoimmune diseases, such as myasthenia gravis (MG), should not be seen as a not be seen as a factor against treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced metastatic cancer, a case report says. The case report, “Metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma…

RaDaR, the catchy new name for the U.S. government-run Rare Diseases Registry Program, aims to help patient advocacy groups with limited resources build their own disease registries. The site was developed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a division of the National Institutes of…

Patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) who also have other autoimmune diseases do not have a significantly higher disease burden compared to those with MG alone, a study says. The findings of the study, “Impact of autoimmune comorbidity on fatigue, sleepiness and mood in myasthenia gravis,” were published…

Treatment with Rituxan (rituximab) led to high rates of clinical remission without posing significant side effects in a group of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG), a study shows. The study, “High efficacy of rituximab for myasthenia gravis: a comprehensive nationwide study in Austria,” was published in the…

A significant proportion of patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) treated with Alexion’s Soliris (eculizumab) were able to either stop or reduce their use of immunosuppressive therapy, according to interim results from a Phase 3 open-label extension study. The study, “Changes in Concomitant Immunosuppressive Therapy Use…

With 250 rare diseases newly identified every year, scientists can barely keep up — even as the healthcare system fails millions of Americans whose rare diseases have already been diagnosed. That’s the warning from Christopher P. Austin, MD, director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Studies(NCATS) at the…