The most commonly accepted theory is that it is due to an infection with an unknown virus during childhood in genetically susceptible individuals.
It is believed the virus lies dormant for many years before either directly or by some immune process causing the disease.
The half-closed eyes of the late Aristotle Onassis were very obvious in most published photographs of him.
This unusual disorder occurs in all races and in both sexes. It is characterised by abnormal muscle weakness which tends to affect one group of muscles more than others.
The cause is unknown but it is thought to be one of the auto-immune diseases, where the body, as it were, becomes allergic to its own tissues and makes antibodies which fix on and then destroy those tissues.
The thymus seems to be somehow involved in the disorder. This poorly understood organ lies in the upper chest, in front of the heart and lungs. It is large in childhood and slowly decreases in size, so as to be hardly noticeable when the chest of a mature or elderly adult is opened at operation or autopsy.
*507/71/1*
Random Posts
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.