: a disease that is characterized by progressive weakness and exhaustibility of voluntary muscles without atrophy and is caused by an autoimmune attack on muscle cell receptors which normally bind to acetylcholine released at nerve endings
Note: Symptoms of myasthenia gravis may include double vision, drooping of the eyelids, difficult swallowing, impaired speech, and weakness in the arms, legs, and neck.
… in myasthenia gravis, antibodies destroy the muscle's receptor proteins that serve as docks for this signal, a chemical called acetylcholine.—Science News
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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