27) MYASTHENIA GRAVIS ASSOCIATION AND VITAMIN D

The Myasthenia Gravis association has a web site and a discussion blog online. It can easily be accessed by goggle: Myasthenia Gravis Association.

My entry on this Health Letter #19 is titled: Case History: Subjective and Objective Improvement in Myasthenia Gravis following aggressive treatment of Vitamin D insufficiency. It tells the story about Debbie, a woman with myasthenia gravis.

This entry was different than when I wrote about other illnesses, such as osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis, which have a significant amount of medical research supporting their connection with vitamin D. I was unable to find any medical study that investigated myasthenia gravis(MG) and vitamin D. However myasthenia gravis is known to be an autoimmune illness felt to be caused by abnormal antibodies, and there has been much research done on vitamin D having a beneficial effect against such antibodies.

I precipitated a discussion of Vitamin D and myasthenia. Many members of the forum with MG were aware that they had very low levels of vitamin D, and were aware of the problems that can arise with osteoporosis, made worse because prednisone frequently used to treat MG often accelerates osteoporosis. One member in particular felt there was a possibility that an improvement in the MG that coincided with taking significant doses of vitamin D were related. Some members of the forum indicated they were going to get a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level done for the first time.

One member of the forum summarized the discussion on the Myasthenia Gravis Forum:

"I think Dr Baker has been given a good hearing on this Forum and his argument has been well made. Maybe it’s time to let it sink in. And .. I have taken what he says about vitamin D deficiency very seriously. I think there may well be something in it and think it worthy of further investigation. The MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Trust and MS Society have taken on board the possible link with vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases and I think we should too."

Best wishes to the members of the forum who suffer from MG and I hope as a result of the discussion, more people with MG have an experience with vitamin D that is similar to that of Debbie's positive experience.