It’s normal to have questions when you start a new treatment. Your Care Coordinator is happy to answer any questions – don’t hesitate to reach out.
ONWARD Care Coordinators do not provide medical advice and will refer you to your healthcare professional for any questions related to your treatment plan.
Advocacy groups can help you find people who share similar gMG experiences. Keep in mind, when you join an advocacy group, you can share as much or as little as you’d like. Sometimes, you may find it helpful to just listen.
A quick search online can help you locate advocacy groups. Whether you find a local group to meet in-person, or an online group who meet remotely, a support community can help you feel connected and learn more about gMG.
Acetylcholine helps your brain send messages to your muscles. In people with gMG, anti-AChR antibodies damage your muscles’ AChR receptors, which can lead to muscle weakness.
An acetylcholine receptor is found on your muscle cells. These receptors receive messages from your nerves. In patients with gMG, these receptors may be damaged by anti-AChR antibodies.
The immune systems of people with gMG mistakenly generate anti-AChR antibodies that damage AChR receptors.
Occurs in patients with harmful, AChR-damaging autoantibodies. This is the most common form of gMG.
Antibodies are chemicals in your body that fight germs, cancer, and infections.
A disease that causes the immune system to mistakenly attack healthy cells and tissues.
A method of testing the efficacy and safety of a given treatment. Clinical trials are reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine if a treatment can be used in humans for a specified condition.
Blurred or double vision.
Slurred speech.
Problems swallowing.
Problems speaking, or a change in the quality of a person’s voice.
Also known as a flare, exacerbation is a time when muscle weakness is either more severe or more frequent than normal.
Also known as gMG, this is the most common type of MG. In generalized MG, the condition affects muscles in the patient’s eyes, face, neck, arms, and legs.
A type of medication used for overactive immune systems. IST medications reduce the intensity of the body’s immune system.
The Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Living (MG-ADL) scale assesses the impact of MG on your daily functions. This scale is a tool that helps you measure the symptoms that most affect your daily living and can be used to communicate your symptoms with your healthcare provider.
A medical emergency where the muscles you use to breathe get very weak, leading to respiratory failure.
A doctor specializing in treating conditions of the nervous system, like gMG.
Where nerve cells and muscle cells meet and communicate, including the acetylcholine receptor (AchR).
Drooping eyelid.
A period of time when symptoms go away completely, with less or no treatment.
The thymus is a gland located over the heart and behind the breast bone. This is often the part of the immune system that does not work properly in people with MG.
Surgery to remove the thymus gland.
A tumor on the thymus gland. May be cancerous or non-cancerous in people with MG.
The amount of time you are covered under the terms of your insurance plan.
A process, usually done by a doctor’s office, to see if a service or prescription is covered under your insurance plan (also known as benefits verification).
Your share of the cost of a covered healthcare service, usually a percentage of the allowed amount for the service (for example, 10%). You pay coinsurance after you’ve met your deductible.
A flat fee you pay for certain covered services such as a doctor’s visit or prescriptions. The amount can vary depending on the type of insurance you have or the service being performed.
A flat dollar amount you must pay out of your own pocket before your plan begins to pay for covered services.
The insurance you set up through the Health Insurance Marketplace ® .
Proof of how much money you earn from your job or receive through government assistance.
Healthcare treatment you receive when you’re admitted to a healthcare facility like a hospital or nursing facility.
Healthcare services or supplies that are needed in order to diagnose or treat an illness, injury, disease, condition, or symptoms and that meet accepted standards of medicine.
Medicare is a federally funded health insurance program for people age 65 or older, people younger than 65 with certain disabilities, and people of all ages with end-stage renal disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant). Please visit www.medicare.gov for more detailed information on Medicare policies.
Also known as Medicare Part C. This Medicare plan is offered by private companies that contract with Medicare to provide beneficiaries with Medicare Part A and Part B benefits.
The amount Medicare will pay for a specific healthcare service or treatment.
An insurance program that helps pay for prescription drugs for people with Medicare.
Extra health insurance you can buy from a private company to pay healthcare costs not covered by original Medicare (for example, co-pays, deductibles, and healthcare if you travel outside the United States).
The amount of insurance coverage a person needs to meet the individual responsibility requirement under the Affordable Care Act.
The time period when a person can sign up for a health insurance plan.
Healthcare services received from providers who are not under contract with a particular insurance plan.
Healthcare services you receive without being admitted to a hospital or healthcare facility.
The amount of money that you must pay for health insurance. You (or your employer) may pay your
premium every month, every quarter, or once a year.
Getting your health plan’s approval for a service or prescription ahead of time to confirm that a service or prescription will be covered.