Myasthenia Gravis
Chiropractic care of a pediatric patient
with myasthenia gravis Alcantara J, Plaugher G, Araghi, HJ
J Manipulative Physiol Ther Vol 26 No. 6 July/August 2003.
This
is the case of a 2-year-old girl diagnosed with myasthenia
gravis. Her symptoms were ptosis (dropped eyelid) and generalized
muscle weakness (lethargy) in the lower extremities. Subluxation
complexes were located and adjusted in the upper cervical
and sacral areas. After five months of chiropractic care
her symptoms completely disappeared.
Juvenile Myasthenia Gravis:
a case study in chiropractic management. Araghi HJ. Proceedings
of the International Conference on Pediatrics and Chiropractic,
1993:122-131. From the abstract:
A two-year-old female was diagnosed
with Myasthenia Gravis from clinical and laboratory tests performed
by a neurologist and pediatric ophthalmologist. Symptoms began
eight days after an automobile accident and a month later child
was diagnosed with the condition. Symptoms included lethargy,
weakness of the lower extremities, ptosis (drooping) of the
right eye-lid, bilateral toe-in of both feet and moderate
left head tilt. Parents were told nothing could be done for
their child. Symptoms continued to worsen. By the time the
child was brought to the chiropractor she was barely able
to sit upright and had to be held up by one of the parents
for most of the examination.
Specific chiropractic spinal adjustments
were performed. The mother noticed slight improvement after
the first adjustment. At the time of the writing of this report
(5 months later), the child’s eyes are functioning normally
and she is able to run for prolonged periods without fatigue.
The case history suggests that this was not a spontaneous remission
but was due to the physiological response to the chiropractic
adjustment.
Chiropractic management of a patient with myasthenia
gravis and vertebral subluxations. Alacantara J, Steiner DM,
Plaugher P, Alacantara J. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics, 1999; 22:333-340.
This is the study of a 63 year-old
man suffering from symptoms associated with myasthenia gravis
and signs of vertebral subluxation.
The initial complaint was
dysphagia, swelling of the tongue, nausea, digestive problems,
weakness in the eye muscles, difficulty breathing, myopia,
diplopia and headaches. In addition, the patient had balance
and coordination problems and resultant walking difficulties.
Results
of chiropractic care: Subluxations were adjusted and “myasthenia gravis is no longer debilitating to
the patient; he is medication free and has assumed a ‘normal
life’”.
Copyright 2004 Koren Publications, Inc. & Tedd
Koren, D.C.