Nizar Souayah, MD, explains how undertreated MG can progress, impact daily life, and lead to more intensive treatments and side effects.
Transcript
This is a conversation I wish I don’t have to have, basically.
When myasthenia gravis is undertreated, the disease does not stay still. I mean — still stable. It will progress.
So ocular myasthenia may progress, generalized weakness could progress, trouble with chewing or even with short of breath or respiratory failure. And we’re going to myasthenia gravis and ICU admission, mechanical ventilation and intubation.
And also, there is also another cost to that. Not only about myasthenia gravis — it’s the fact the patient cannot perform, so they may lose their job. And with this job they may make, they cannot, they have depression, anxiety because of that.
Also, they cannot maintain relationships because nobody will understand why today you’re good, you’re fine, and the next day you collapse. So this is also another issue with undertreating. And irony also.
And when you start treating this patient aggressively, basically to put them back to baseline, basically, you need to have higher dose of medication. And this higher dose will come with side effects like weight gain again, which could be avoided if we start treating these patients early.
