What are the signs and symptoms of myasthenia gravis?

Condition analysis:
Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle; muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and swallowing are most frequently affected. The onset of the disorder may be sudden. Symptoms often are not immediately recognized as myasthenia gravis.

In most cases, the first noticeable symptom is weakness of the eye muscles. In others, difficulty in swallowing and slurred speech may be the first signs. The degree of muscle weakness involved in myasthenia gravis varies greatly among patients, ranging from a localized form, limited to eye muscles (ocular myasthenia), to a severe or generalized form in which many muscles -- sometimes including those that control breathing -- are affected. Symptoms, which vary in type and severity, may include a drooping of one or both eyelids (ptosis), blurred or double vision (diplopia) caused by weakness of the muscles that control eye movements, unstable or waddling gait, weakness in arms, hands, fingers, legs, and neck, a change in facial expression, difficulty in swallowing and shortness of breath, and impaired speech (dysarthria).

Instructions:
Myasthenia Gravis Treatment Physical Therapy: Myasthenia gravis produces various degrees of weakness in the muscles in your face, arms and legs as well as the muscles that manage your breathing. Research published in the September 2005 problem of the journal "Chest" indicates that physical therapy breathing techniques can improve respiratory muscle strength in patients with this neuromuscular disease. If you experience from myasthenia gravis, your doctor may suggest physical therapy exercises to help strengthen your muscles.

Your physical therapist will design a program of exercises that focus on strengthening the particular muscles weakened by myasthenia gravis. For instance, she might suggest performing squats to strengthen the quadriceps and hamstring muscles in your thighs and leg rises to help strength in your abdominal and hip muscles. If your muscles are very weak, your Treatment for Myasthenia Gravis may instruct you to perform exercises with some assistance. After noting significant development, she might direct you to perform range-of-motion exercises that move your muscles through a full range of motion -- without support. A physical therapist can slowly add strengthening exercises, such as weightlifting, to your activity regimen. Furthermore, she will modify and suggest activities depending on your day-to-day performance. The progression of specific exercises, along with the strength and duration of each exercise, will also vary depending on your overall condition.