This Year, I’m Thankful for the Good and the Bad

After I’ve put away my Halloween decorations and watched my final viewing of the movie “Hocus Pocus“ for the year, my thoughts turn to Thanksgiving. As October becomes November, I always begin to ponder what I’m thankful for. It hasn’t always been…

“Human-on-a-chip” technology developed by Hesperos can be used to model myasthenia gravis (MG), a new study shows. “This system has the potential to help researchers understand which mechanisms are driving a specific patient’s disease, including presence of particular autoantibodies [self-targeting antibodies], and could be used to further evaluate…

Comorbidities — co-existing illnesses like hypertension — tend to be more common in older patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and to increase with advancing age, a study of patient registry data reports. The presence of comorbidities, however, did not differ among these adults based on age at MG onset. The study…

There’s always this weird period between getting tested for a medical condition and actually getting diagnosed with it. A person may be almost certain of their illness, but they can’t start treatment until it’s been confirmed. It’s like waiting to cross the most important street in your life; the path…

In patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) with an associated thymus tumor, being male, having poorer lung function, more severe disease, receiving into-the-vein anesthetics, and spending a longer time in surgery are all associated with a higher risk of prolonged ventilation following thymus removal surgery. The study with that finding,…

Zai Lab is planning — in the first half of 2022 — to ask Chinese authorities to approve efgartigimod (ARGX-113) as a treatment for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) in that country. The therapy, being developed by Argenx and designed to lessen the body’s immune attacks against…

I received two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, one in April and the other in May. With my limited medical and scientific knowledge, I thought those two shots would be the only ones I’d need for the foreseeable future, but I was wrong; the U.S.

In people with ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG), disease onset during adulthood, the presence of nerve abnormalities, anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) autoantibodies, and a thymus tumor, all increase the risk of disease generalization to the rest of the body, a multicenter study in China has found. Notably, in contrast to…

Diabetes, which causes blood sugar levels to rise abnormally, may trigger a stronger immune response and worsen myasthenia gravis (MG) symptoms, a study in a rat disease model suggests. If its findings hold true in people, they could provide evidence of the importance of blood sugar control in easing…

It’s easy to get wrapped up in one’s own life. We can try to show empathy and understanding, and to see things through another person’s eyes, but sometimes it’s difficult. We all think we are the main character in every situation, even though we clearly aren’t. Sometimes…