E F P T O Z L P E D…. look familiar? Pun intended. August is National Eye Exam Month, and we at the MGA want to call attention to the importance of taking care of your eyes, especially since myasthenia gravis can have a tremendous impact on eye health.
(photo retrieved from Jeff Dahl via Wikipedia)
For many people with myasthenia, the disease tends to manifest in the eyes first and gradually affects muscles throughout the entire body including the face, jaw, and limbs. For some, however, the disease is primarily and only in the eyes, better known as ocular myasthenia. No matter the diagnosis, visiting the optometrist or designated eye doctor is another tool in your MG toolkit.
The more patients I interact with, the more I learn that many of them started the MG diagnostic process after seeing their eye doctor. Chief of Optometry for the Great Boston VA Healthcare System, Doug Rett, wrote an interesting blog post about teaching his students how to detect MG. He writes, “Because the lids and EOMs are usually the first muscles affected, eye doctors will often be the first specialists to confront and diagnose [MG]. In fact, in 70% of cases, the levator palpebrae superioris and EOMs are the first muscles affected and are eventually affected in 90% of MG cases (as cited in Newman et al., n.d.).” With a statistic that large, it makes sense to call attention to national eye exam month and moreover, build upon the current training optometrists have if MG is suspected. In doing so, the diagnosis can theoretically be caught earlier and treated before it progresses.
My experience with MG eye symptoms was a pretty textbook case. MG started in my eyes and I still struggle with some droopy eyelids and double vision. When I was diagnosed 16+ years ago though, I never once saw an optometrist. My vision itself was perfect, so there seemed no reason to. That’s where we fall short in health education. Optometrists care for the eyes, meaning, they do more than just provide primary vision care. These healthcare professionals can detect vision changes and abnormalities—including things like diplopia, ptosis, and blurry vision.
Let this be the little push you need to go get your eyes checked. It is an easy thing to put at the bottom of the to-do list if you do not feel your vision is really impaired. Yet, getting your eyes routinely examined may provide you a closer look into your MG and how you can best manage it.
The following blog post was written by Meridith O'Connor, St. Louis Program Coordinator of the Myasthenia Gravis Association.