Insights Into the Association Between Myasthenia Gravis and Depression: A Clinical Case Study

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a serious and debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by muscle weakness, shortness of breath, and issues affecting the eyes, limbs, throat, and speech. Given the intense physical toll of the disease, it is unsurprising that higher rates of depression are observed amo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2023-08, Vol.15 (8)
Main Authors: Villa, Nicole Ann E, Fiore, Gina Maria P, Espiridion, Eduardo D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Asthma
Case reports
Chronic illnesses
Comorbidity
Disease
Females
Hospitals
Hypothyroidism
Lupus
Mental depression
Multiple sclerosis
Myasthenia gravis
Neurology
Patients
Physiology
Psychiatry
Psychology
Psychotherapy
Steroids
Substance abuse treatment
Thyroid cancer
Thyroidectomy
Womens health
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Summary:Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a serious and debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by muscle weakness, shortness of breath, and issues affecting the eyes, limbs, throat, and speech. Given the intense physical toll of the disease, it is unsurprising that higher rates of depression are observed among MG patients.We present a case involving a 30-year-old female patient who was admitted to the hospital for MG exacerbation and had a psychiatric consultation for worsening depression symptoms. The patient acknowledged symptoms of sad mood, crying spells, anhedonia, fatigue, insomnia, and inappropriate guilt. She admits to psychosocial stressors of her declining health, recent job loss, and low self-esteem due to weight gain. Past medical history includes a thymectomy and a total thyroidectomy that caused postsurgical-acquired hypothyroidism. She is currently on prednisone and pyridostigmine for her MG.The patient has many potential causes of her increased depressive symptoms, including her medications, psychosocial stressors, and her past medical history, in addition to her MG. However, the literature shows higher incidence rates of depression in MG patients compared to both healthy controls and controls with other comparable chronic conditions, as well as shows a positive association between increased depressive symptoms and MG severity. Thus, these findings prompt the consideration of possible physiological interplay between the two diseases and encourage further research into the association between MG and depression.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.43682