Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Psychology, health and illness
- Medical topics
- Abortion
- Accidents and unintentional injuries
- Acne
- Alcohol abuse
- Allergies to drugs
- Allergies to food
- Allergies: general
- Amnesia
- Amputation and phantom limb pain
- Anaesthesia and psychology
- Antenatal care
- Aphasia recovery, treatment and psychosocial adjustment
- Asthma
- Back pain
- Blindness and visual disability
- Blood donation
- Breastfeeding
- Burn injuries: psychological and social aspects
- Cancer: breast
- Cancers of the digestive tract
- Cancer: general
- Cancer: gynaecologic
- Cancer: head and neck
- Cancer: Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Cancer: leukaemia
- Cancer: lung
- Cancer: prostate
- Cancer: skin
- Carotid artery disease and treatment
- Chemotherapy
- Child abuse and neglect
- Chromosomal abnormalities
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): chronic bronchitis and emphysema
- Cleft lip and palate
- Cold, common
- Complementary medicine
- Contraception
- Coronary heart disease: impact
- Coronary heart disease: cardiac psychology
- Coronary heart disease: heart failure
- Coronary heart disease: rehabilitation
- Coronary heart disease: surgery
- Cystic fibrosis
- Acquired hearing loss
- Dementias
- Diabetes mellitus
- Domestic violence, intimate partner violence and wife battering
- Drug dependency: benzodiazepines
- Drug dependence: opiates and stimulants
- Drugs: beta-blockers
- Drugs: psychotropic medication
- Dyslexia
- Eating disorders
- Eczema
- Endocrine disorders
- Enuresis
- Epilepsy
- Epstein–Barr virus infection
- Facial disfigurement and dysmorphology
- Fetal wellbeing: monitoring and assessment
- Gastric and duodenal ulcers
- Growth retardation
- Haemophilia
- Head injury
- Headache and migraine
- Herpes
- HIV/AIDS
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Hospital acquired infection
- Huntington's disease
- Hyperactivity
- Hypertension
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hyperventilation
- Hysterectomy
- Immunization
- Incontinence
- Infertility
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Intensive care unit
- Intimate examinations
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lymphoedema
- Malaria
- Mastalgia (breast pain)
- Meningitis
- Menopause and postmenopause
- MMR vaccine
- Motor neurone disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Neurofibromatosis
- Non-cardiac chest pain
- Obesity
- Oral care and hygiene
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Pelvic pain
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Postnatal depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Premature babies
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Psoriasis
- Radiotherapy
- Rape and sexual assault
- Reconstructive and cosmetic surgery
- Renal failure, dialysis and transplantation
- Repetitive strain injury
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Road traffic accidents: human factors
- Screening: antenatal
- Screening: cancer
- Screening: cardiac
- Screening: genetic
- Self-examination: breasts, testicles
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Sickle cell disease
- Skin disorders
- Sleep apnoea
- Sleep disorders
- Spina bifida
- Spinal cord injury
- Sterilization and vasectomy
- Stroke
- Stuttering
- Suicide
- Tinnitus
- Tobacco use
- Toxins: environmental
- Transplantation
- Urinary tract symptoms
- Vertigo and dizziness
- Vision disorders
- Voice disorders
- Volatile substance abuse
- Vomiting and nausea
- Index
- References
Myasthenia gravis
from Medical topics
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Psychology, health and illness
- Medical topics
- Abortion
- Accidents and unintentional injuries
- Acne
- Alcohol abuse
- Allergies to drugs
- Allergies to food
- Allergies: general
- Amnesia
- Amputation and phantom limb pain
- Anaesthesia and psychology
- Antenatal care
- Aphasia recovery, treatment and psychosocial adjustment
- Asthma
- Back pain
- Blindness and visual disability
- Blood donation
- Breastfeeding
- Burn injuries: psychological and social aspects
- Cancer: breast
- Cancers of the digestive tract
- Cancer: general
- Cancer: gynaecologic
- Cancer: head and neck
- Cancer: Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
- Cancer: leukaemia
- Cancer: lung
- Cancer: prostate
- Cancer: skin
- Carotid artery disease and treatment
- Chemotherapy
- Child abuse and neglect
- Chromosomal abnormalities
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): chronic bronchitis and emphysema
- Cleft lip and palate
- Cold, common
- Complementary medicine
- Contraception
- Coronary heart disease: impact
- Coronary heart disease: cardiac psychology
- Coronary heart disease: heart failure
- Coronary heart disease: rehabilitation
- Coronary heart disease: surgery
- Cystic fibrosis
- Acquired hearing loss
- Dementias
- Diabetes mellitus
- Domestic violence, intimate partner violence and wife battering
- Drug dependency: benzodiazepines
- Drug dependence: opiates and stimulants
- Drugs: beta-blockers
- Drugs: psychotropic medication
- Dyslexia
- Eating disorders
- Eczema
- Endocrine disorders
- Enuresis
- Epilepsy
- Epstein–Barr virus infection
- Facial disfigurement and dysmorphology
- Fetal wellbeing: monitoring and assessment
- Gastric and duodenal ulcers
- Growth retardation
- Haemophilia
- Head injury
- Headache and migraine
- Herpes
- HIV/AIDS
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Hospital acquired infection
- Huntington's disease
- Hyperactivity
- Hypertension
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hyperventilation
- Hysterectomy
- Immunization
- Incontinence
- Infertility
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Intensive care unit
- Intimate examinations
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lymphoedema
- Malaria
- Mastalgia (breast pain)
- Meningitis
- Menopause and postmenopause
- MMR vaccine
- Motor neurone disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Neurofibromatosis
- Non-cardiac chest pain
- Obesity
- Oral care and hygiene
- Osteoarthritis
- Osteoporosis
- Parkinson's disease
- Pelvic pain
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Postnatal depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Premature babies
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Psoriasis
- Radiotherapy
- Rape and sexual assault
- Reconstructive and cosmetic surgery
- Renal failure, dialysis and transplantation
- Repetitive strain injury
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Road traffic accidents: human factors
- Screening: antenatal
- Screening: cancer
- Screening: cardiac
- Screening: genetic
- Self-examination: breasts, testicles
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Sickle cell disease
- Skin disorders
- Sleep apnoea
- Sleep disorders
- Spina bifida
- Spinal cord injury
- Sterilization and vasectomy
- Stroke
- Stuttering
- Suicide
- Tinnitus
- Tobacco use
- Toxins: environmental
- Transplantation
- Urinary tract symptoms
- Vertigo and dizziness
- Vision disorders
- Voice disorders
- Volatile substance abuse
- Vomiting and nausea
- Index
- References
Summary
Myasthenia gravis
Myasthenia gravis is a neurological disease which is characterized by abnormal muscle fatigability. It may affect any group of muscles; head and neck muscles are initially most affected, with extraocular muscles most commonly involved (Stell, 1987). The disease is relatively rare, with an incidence between 2 and 10 per 100 000 (Garfinkle & Kimmelman, 1982). This condition occurs in all ages, but is usually seen in young adults and is twice as common in women as men. Onset for females is reported in the third decade of life, while in males it is during the sixth decade (Garfinkle & Kimmelman, 1982). Aetiology is unknown, but current evidence suggests that it is an autoimmune disease attributed to a decrease in the number of acetylcholine receptors in the motor end plate (Fritze et al., 1974).
Patients with myasthenia gravis tend to show bulbar symptoms, with the initial and most common being drooping of the eyelids or ptosis (Grob, 1961). They also report dysarthria characterized by hypernasality, reduced loudness, increased breathiness and articulatory imprecision (Aronson, 1990), dysphagia, diplopia, weakness of the legs and blurred vision. The unique features of myasthenia gravis are fatigability, fluctuation of function and restoration of function after rest (Colton & Casper, 1990). Diagnosis depends on the typical clinical picture and can be confirmed by intravenous administration of edrophonium (Tensilon Test), laryngeal electromyographic measurements or detection of anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies in the blood.
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- Information
- Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 789 - 790Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007