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Myasthenia Gravis

Thymectomy & Nutrutional Therapy

04/20/2010

Question:

Is it true that nutrutional therapy doesn`t work for patients who have done thymectomy ??? and is it ok to have nutritional therapy along with prednisone???

Answer:

I was not able to find any reliable study in the peer-reviewed scientific literature showing that nutritional therapy works in patients with myasthenia gravis.  Now, mind you, it is important that patients who have swallowing difficulty maintain good nutrition. There are quite a few reports on how to address this problem.

 

Prednisone can cause problems in terms of persons overall nutritional status. There are a number of specific dietary steps that one would need to take when on prednisone. Chief among these is to take steps to avoid excessive weight gain which in turn leads to increasing a patient's risk for diabetes.  You should discuss the specific (calorie counting, food selection, ways of monitoring your weight,...) with your doctor. Depending on other medical conditions the advice may change from one patient to another.

 

I hope this helps.  Best of luck.

 

For more information:

Go to the Myasthenia Gravis health topic, where you can:

Response by:

John G Quinlan, MD John G Quinlan, MD
Professor of Neurology
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati