What's the relationship between disease severity and fatigue in myasthenia gravis?

Fatigue is a common symptom among several autoimmune diseases and can, at times, interfere with daily activities. One autoimmune disease that has fatigue as a common symptom is myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disorder where nerve-muscle communication is impaired, resulting in muscle weakness and fatigue. According to a German registry study, researchers found that the level of fatigue in myasthenia gravis patients is strongly correlated with disease flare-ups and delays in diagnosis.

This study evaluated fatigue and its associated factors in MG patients using tools such as the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ) to assess the physical and mental aspects of fatigue and the MG Activities of Daily Living to evaluate outcome measures of MG severity. Out of 1,464 MG patients—56.7% being women—58.8% of patients have symptoms of fatigue where the mean CFQ score was 16, indicating high fatigue severity. There was also a strong positive correlation between the scores of MG severity and fatigue, where fatigue was seen to be more severe among those with a more severe form of MG.

The Autoimmune Registry recently partnered with the Myasthenia Gravis Association, which supports everyone impacted by myasthenia gravis by increasing public awareness, providing educational opportunities, and fostering meaningful connections with one another. They currently have an upcoming webinar on Monday, September 16th from 6:30-7:30 pm CST with Dr. Mazen Dimachkie who will be discussing CAR-T therapy and the future of treatments. Click here to register.

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