I have started this column many times, but I have had trouble putting my emotions into words. I am trying to digest and cope with how my body is slowly failing me, and I don’t know how I feel about it. If you have been following me, you know that…
Physicians should keep in mind that severe exacerbations in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) might be triggered by the use of gabapentin (sold under the brand name Neurontin, among others), normally used to control seizures, a case report study says. “Uncontrolled recurrent myasthenia gravis exacerbations secondary…
The diabetes drug metformin, which is largely safe and minimally toxic, can be of therapeutical value for myasthenia gravis, according to a study conducted using a mouse model of the disease. The study, “Metformin attenuates autoimmune disease of the neuromotor system in animal models of myasthenia gravis,” was…
Assessing altered eye movements with a technique called electrooculography (EOG) may become a non-invasive method for early diagnosis of myasthenia gravis (MG), according to new research. The study, “Analysis of Electrooculography Signals for the Detection of Myasthenia Gravis,” was published in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to zilucoplan, Ra Pharmaceuticals‘ lead candidate for the treatment of myasthenia gravis (MG). This status helps to support the potential therapy’s development by granting Ra Pharma certain incentives. Zilucoplan, formerly known as RA101495, is an…
Scientists discovered that patients with myasthenia gravis have a unique metabolic profile that can be used to diagnose the disorder, but also to predict the course of the disease and possibly lead to personalized treatments. The study, “Beyond the antibodies: serum metabolomic profiling of myasthenia gravis,” recently was…
Rare diseases deeply affect not only the children who experience them, but also their healthy brothers and sisters, as their parents can attest. Two entries in November’s “Disorder: The Rare Disease Film Festival” will focus on what siblings go through, according to the San Francisco festival’s co-founder,…
Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another. German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center. Minssen directs the Center for Advanced Studies in…
Despite being relatively rare in toddlers, juvenile myasthenia gravis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children showing different types of eye-related symptoms, a case report says. The case report study, “Mummy, my eyelids are heavy”: A case series of juvenile myasthenia gravis,” was published recently in…
Despite the support from basic health insurance, those in China living with rare diseases, such as myasthenia gravis (MG), hemophilia, and phenylketonuria (PKU), still struggle to have access to affordable medications and therapies, according to a study. The findings of the study, “Health service security of…
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