G70.0: Myasthenia gravis

This disorder is caused by certain antibodies that your body itself produces. The immune system produces various antibodies that should normally combat pathogens, for example. With some illnesses these antibodies are targeted against your own body. However, the disorder can also be caused by certain medications.

Muscles are made up of many long cells. These cells form the muscle fibers. Muscle movement is controlled by nerves. For information to get from the nerves to the muscles, nerve cells generate certain signals. These signals are absorbed by the muscle cells.

In your case, certain antibodies have stopped the signals from being transmitted properly between the nerves and muscles. When the signals are not properly transmitted between the nerves and muscles, the muscles usually get weak quickly.

There may be various symptoms with this disorder because there are a lot of muscles with different tasks. Sometimes only the eye muscles are affected, for example. Then one might see double, or have a drooping eyelid. The person may no longer be able to move certain parts of their body properly. But the respiratory muscles may also be affected by the disorder. At that point the person is usually seriously ill and can no longer breathe properly.