Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about Myasenia Gravis.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash myasthenia gravis

or in the neurology section of the second edition of the zero to finals medicine book.

And you can find flashcards and questions to train your knowledge on this content

and help you remember the information for longer at members.0 to finals.com.

So let's get straight into it. Myosthenia gravis is an autoimmune

condition affecting the neuromuscular junction. It causes muscle weakness that progressively worsens with

activity and improves with rest. Myasthenia gravis affects men and women at different ages,

typically affecting women under 40 and men over 60. There's a strong link between myosthenia

gravis and thymomas, which are thymus gland tumors. 10 to 20% of patients with myosthenia gravis have a thymoma.

Around 30% of patients who have a thymoma develop myasenegravis.

Let's go through the pathophysiology.

Motor neurons communicate with muscles via the neuromuscular junction.

On one side of the synapse is the pre-synaptic membrane of the axon terminal of the motor

neuron, essentially the end of the motor neuron.

On the other side of the synapse in the neuromuscular junction is the post-synaptic membrane

of the motor end plate of the muscle cell. The axons of the motor neurons release a neurotransmitter

called acetylcholine from the presynaptic membrane. The acetylcholine travels across the synapse

and attaches to receptors on the post-synaptic membrane,

and this stimulates muscle contraction.

Acetalcholine receptor antibodies are found in most patients with myosenia gravis.

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