On December 7, Stanford Medicine neurologist Dr. Srikanth Muppidi gave a presentation about antibodies as part of the MGFA Wellness Webinar series.

 

Dr. Muppidi’s interest in talking about antibodies came from experience in his own practice. Many of his patients have reached out to him not sure if they have AcHR, MuSK, LRP4, or seronegative myasthenia gravis.

 

“This was eye opening – I just assumed everybody knew about their antibodies,” Dr. Muppidi said during the presentation.

 

He shared that knowing your antibody status helps you advocate for the care and treatments that you need in order to manage your MG. People with MuSK MG, for instance, may have different symptoms, such as increased weakness of face and throat muscles and more rapid progression of disease. For that reason, Dr. Muppidi says that early treatment is crucial in these patients to prevent muscle atrophy.

 

Understanding how each antibody works in the body will help you understand which therapies will be most beneficial for you. For instance, MuSK MG responds well to rituximab, but pyridostigmine may not be as effective as it is for patients with AChR MG.

 

Knowing your antibody status – and sharing this information with your care team – helps ensure you receive the right treatment plan.

 

In this webinar, Dr. Muppidi goes into detail about these topics. We encourage you to watch and learn how different antibodies can cause myasthenia gravis symptoms, as well as the effectiveness of treatment options based on antibody status.