Myasthenia Gravis Support Group
Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatiguability. The hallmark of myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that increases during periods of activity and improves after periods of rest. Although myasthenia gravis may affect any voluntary muscle, muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, and...
A few cases of MG may be caused by statins. Although there is not a cause-effect direct link--it could just be coincidence, the authors seem to think their might be a mechanism of statins causing autoimmune problems.
http://www.jocn-journal.com/article/S0967-5868(13)00643-7/fulltext
A rare side effect of statin medication is the induction of autoimmune illnesses, including myasthenia gravis (myasthenia). Here we present two patients with seropositive myasthenia that developed 4weeks after initiation of atorvastatin, increasing the total reported patients to seven. Reviewing recent literature we highlight the connections between statins, auto-immunity and myasthenia. Statins may favour T-cell phenotypes that reduce cell-mediated immunity but could increase antibody-mediated humoral immunity.
Also a cancer treatment ipillmumab, that can cause MG.
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2014/04/28/JCO.2013.51.1683
Many medications, such as aminoglycosides and corticosteroids,
can aggravate myasthenia, but only a few, such as D-penicillamine,
interferon alfa, and perhaps the statins, can induce it.17-19 In our
patients, ipilimumab possibly triggered the onset of myasthenia gravis
by exuberant T-cell activation.
http://www.jocn-journal.com/article/S0967-5868(13)00643-7/fulltext
A rare side effect of statin medication is the induction of autoimmune illnesses, including myasthenia gravis (myasthenia). Here we present two patients with seropositive myasthenia that developed 4weeks after initiation of atorvastatin, increasing the total reported patients to seven. Reviewing recent literature we highlight the connections between statins, auto-immunity and myasthenia. Statins may favour T-cell phenotypes that reduce cell-mediated immunity but could increase antibody-mediated humoral immunity.
Also a cancer treatment ipillmumab, that can cause MG.
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2014/04/28/JCO.2013.51.1683
Many medications, such as aminoglycosides and corticosteroids,
can aggravate myasthenia, but only a few, such as D-penicillamine,
interferon alfa, and perhaps the statins, can induce it.17-19 In our
patients, ipilimumab possibly triggered the onset of myasthenia gravis
by exuberant T-cell activation.
I was pretty sure it was because of the statins known side effect of muscle pain(s), but who knows.
I believe it. I was on those meds for 10 years. When I advised my PCP that my Neuro discontinued the statins, my PCP told me to just take Fish Oil.
I thought to myself, "why didn't you tell me to try the Fish Oil 10 years ago?". But then I answered my own question, as the attractive girl from the pharmaceutical company showed up and brought all of the staff lunch!
Conflict of interest? INDEED.
Thx for bringing this up.
What bullshit.
I didn't notice anything about the long-term usage of the statins, but I certainly could've missed that. The first article only let me view a paragraph or two, before it asked me to log in (which I did not), so I didn't get the whole story.
:)