Many years ago the TV series “Over the top” introduced many people to the disease myasthenia gravis. The main character in the drama showed symptoms such as not being able to drive in gear, not being able to hold a cup in his hand, many medications not working, and even eventually dying because of myasthenia gravis. It is as if myasthenia gravis is an incurable disease. So, is it true that myasthenia gravis is untreatable? Currently, it is believed that autoantibodies produced by the thymus gland are the main cause of myasthenia gravis, and it is recommended that surgical treatment be performed first, followed by standardized medication. Myasthenia gravis is an acquired autoimmune disease with impaired neuromuscular junction transmission, characterized by fatigue of the affected skeletal muscles, aggravated by activity, and improvement of symptoms with rest and anticholinesterase drugs. Droopy eyelids are often the first status quo in many patients with myasthenia gravis, but in addition to this, diplopia, strabismus, difficulty swallowing, choking on water, weakness in speech, inability to pronounce words, as well as easy fatigue, shrugging weakness, and difficulty breathing may all be symptoms of myasthenia gravis, and symptoms of swallowing, drinking, pronunciation, and breathing are all signs of a more serious condition. According to Prof. Chen Zhenguang, a patient had sought medical advice from several hospitals with dysphagia as a symptom. At first, he thought it was an esophageal tumor and did gastroscopy several times, but no abnormality was found; then he was injected with a shot of neostigmine (medically known as neostigmine test), and the dysphagia was immediately relieved, only then did he realize that he had myasthenia gravis. Treatment: surgery first, then drugs Currently, the treatment for myasthenia gravis is generally drugs and surgery. According to the general thinking, people think that medication first and then surgery if it doesn’t work. But in fact, “the general order of treatment should be surgical treatment first, and then give the standard drug treatment. The thymus gland is the cause of myasthenia gravis, according to Professor Chen Zhenguang. The surgical removal of the thymus can avoid the production of acetylcholine receptor antibodies, which is an important and effective means of blocking the pathological process of myasthenia gravis, and is the preferred method of treatment for myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis is not an incurable disease, and there are already standardized treatment protocols abroad for this disease, which in fact are multidisciplinary collaborative treatment measures that require surgery first. Active surgical treatment, combined with the collaboration of internal medicine and Chinese medicine, can achieve better results in close to 80% of patients. However, surgical removal of the thymus alone is not enough. Professor Chen Zanguang reminded that “the scope of surgical excision should include the thymus and its surrounding adipose tissue, as there is a certain probability that ectopic thymocytes also exist in the adipose tissue surrounding the thymus.” According to Prof. Chen Zhenguang, he has clinically counted more than two thousand cases of patients with myasthenia gravis and found that ectopic thymus exists in 30% of the fatty tissues around the thymus, and some even have ectopic thymus in other parts of the anterior mediastinum. Because of this, “in foreign countries, surgical removal of the thymus along with aggressive and thorough clearance of the surrounding adipose tissue has long been a routine,” said Prof. Chen Zhenguang. Generally speaking, 2 to 4 years after surgery is the peak period for entering symptomatic remission. Therefore, medication is still needed after surgery. Professor Chen Zhenguang reminded that “surgical treatment is only one part of the collaborative medical-surgical treatment, even if the symptoms are gone after surgery, do not rashly stop the medication, but should be based on blood test indicators to determine whether to reduce or stop the medication, rashly stopping the medication often leads to aggravation of the disease.” Diet should be supplemented not cooled Many people are hoping for Chinese medicine treatment, to which Chen Zhenguang believes that post-operative Chinese medicine treatment can continue to be taken, but should be noted. He pointed out that in Chinese medicine, myasthenia gravis belongs to the deficiency evidence, therefore, after surgery and usually should not eat cold food, such as watermelon, winter melon, as well as herbal tea, cool drinks, etc., can be appropriate to eat some hot food, but also can eat ginseng, party ginseng, Astragalus; if thymoma, you can also take mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidum and other immunity-enhancing food.