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Most people living with myasthenia gravis can expect to have the same life expectancy as the general population. Your life expectancy is the average number of years you can expect to live.
MG is a neuromuscular disease that affects your nerves and muscles and usually gets worse over time. Although there’s no cure for the condition, advances in the treatment of myasthenia gravis have improved, extending the life expectancy of people living with it.
Even though the life expectancy for people with myasthenia gravis is about the same as the general population’s, living with the condition may affect your risk for certain diseases. Continue reading to learn more about how myasthenia gravis can affect your life expectancy.
Most people with myasthenia gravis have a normal life expectancy. In the United States, the average life expectancy is about 76.4 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For females, it’s 79.3 years and for males, it’s 73.5 years, per the CDC.
The mortality rate (the rate at which people die) for people with myasthenia gravis may be highest within the first five years after diagnosis. Studies have found that certain factors may be associated with a lower life expectancy, such as:
Risk factors for a lower life expectancy with myasthenia gravis include being male, being diagnosed after age 50, and having cancer of the thymus gland.
Although most people with myasthenia gravis can expect a normal life expectancy, symptoms of MG can affect your quality of life, including your ability to complete daily activities. Myasthenia gravis can also take a toll on your mental health. Mood disorders occur in about 40 percent of people with the condition.
Studies on large populations have found that the most common causes of death among people with myasthenia gravis are similar to those of the general population.
In the U.S., the top two leading causes of death for the general population are heart disease and cancer. Researchers have found similar patterns in people with myasthenia gravis. A 2020 study in Sweden found that cancer and heart disease were the first and second most common causes of death among 4,000 people with myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis itself was the third leading cause of death in this population.
The top two causes of death for people with myasthenia gravis are heart disease and cancer, followed by MG itself.
Cancer is a common cause of death for people with myasthenia gravis. People with the condition may have a higher risk of some types of cancer due to an association with thymoma and treatment with immunosuppressant medications.
In the Swedish study, half of people with both thymoma and myasthenia gravis died from cancer during the 10-year study period.
Thymoma and myasthenia gravis are also associated with other types of cancer. A different study in Sweden found that, other than thymoma, the most common types of cancer in people with myasthenia gravis were:
A thymectomy — a procedure to remove the thymus gland — may improve outcomes in some people with MG.
Talk to your neurologist about your risk for cancer. Your doctor may recommend cancer screening — testing for some cancers before you have any symptoms.
The use of immunosuppressant medications to treat myasthenia gravis has also been linked to an increased risk of some cancers.
Immunosuppressant medications can be helpful in treating MG because it’s an autoimmune condition. If you have an autoimmune disease, your body’s immune system makes antibodies (specialized immune system proteins) that mistakenly attack the neuromuscular junction — the space between your nerves and muscles. This attack interferes with communication between nerves and muscles. This results in muscle weakness in the muscles you control, called voluntary muscles or skeletal muscles.
Immunosuppressant medications can improve your symptoms of myasthenia gravis by stopping the immune system from making harmful antibodies. Examples of immunosuppressant medications used in MG include:
While immunosuppressants can help MG symptoms, they can also hinder the immune system’s ability to detect and fight off new cancer. This may result in the development of some cancers.
Talk to your neurologist about the potential risks of your MG medication.
Lifestyle factors and medications related to myasthenia gravis may put people living with the condition at risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack.
Muscle weakness and fatigue caused by myasthenia gravis can make physical activity and exercise more difficult. Lack of physical activity is one of the most important risk factors for heart disease.
Your risk of heart disease may also increase if you take corticosteroid medications, like prednisone. Several of the potential side effects of prednisone are also risk factors for heart disease, such as:
Talk to your neurologist about your risk of heart disease and ways to prevent it.
Myasthenic crisis is a life-threatening complication of MG that can result in death from respiratory failure. A myasthenic crisis happens when your respiratory muscles (the muscles that help you breathe) become too weak to move air in and out of your lungs. During a myasthenic crisis, a person requires a ventilator to help them breathe.
If you have a lung infection, such as influenza (the flu) or pneumonia, you may be more likely to die from a myasthenic crisis.
Myasthenic crisis can be life-threatening, so it’s important to be aware of the early signs, such as:
If you notice any of these symptoms, you should seek care immediately.
For people with myasthenic crisis, steps for improving life expectancy are similar to those for the general population. The following tips may help you to reduce your risk for cancer and heart disease:
Developing healthy habits can also decrease your risk for other chronic conditions, such as diabetes and stroke.
The best ways to improve your life expectancy with myasthenia gravis are to stick to healthy habits and keep your MG well-controlled.
Take charge of your myasthenic crisis care to keep your disease well managed and prevent complications. Talk to your neurologist about the risks and benefits of MG treatment options, such as immunosuppressant medications, and how they may affect your risk of other medical conditions.
It’s also important to make sure you and all of your health care providers are aware of drugs you should either avoid or use with caution when living with myasthenic crisis, including:
On MGteam — the social network for people living with myasthenia gravis and their loved ones — members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with myasthenia gravis.
Are you living with myasthenia gravis? What steps have you taken to increase your life expectancy? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on your Activities page.
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Luc Jasmin, M.D., Ph.D., FRCS (C), FACS
is a board-certified neurosurgery specialist.
Learn more about him here.
Amanda Jacot, PharmD
earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009 and a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Texas College of Pharmacy in 2014.
Learn more about her here.
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