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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298:29-30.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Chicago—Although the underlying cause of the chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder myasthenia gravis has been known for some time, efforts to develop and test potential therapies have been relatively modest—perhaps because it is fairly rare, affecting an estimated 20 in 100 000 individuals in the United States, according the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America.

But the disorder, which takes its name from Greek and Latin words meaning "grave muscular weakness," is very much on the radar of a cadre of scientists across the globe who gather every 5 years at the International Conference on Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders to share their latest findings. At the most recent conference, held here in May, experts discussed several completed and ongoing clinical trials.

In many patients with myasthenia gravis, circulating antibodies bind to acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) in the neuromuscular junction, thereby blocking acetylcholine binding, inducing postsynaptic membrane damage, and ultimately . . . [Full Text of this Article]

DEARTH OF TRIALS