Incidence and Prevalence of Myasthenia Gravis

Who is affected?

MG can affect anyone regardless of age, sex or race.
In the UK, MG is rare before age 10

What is the split between gender and age?

Between the onset-ages of 15 and 40, about 75% are female.
Between the ages of 50 and 75, about 60% are male.

What is the peak incidence* for thymoma?

Thymoma-plus-MG is most often diagnosed between ages 40 and 60.
The thymoma probably starts growing a few years before then.

What is the prevalence* of MG?

In the UK, the prevalence is around 1 in every 10,000 people.
So there are probably around 5,000 - 10,000 MG patients in total in the UK.
A typical four-GP practice is likely to have at least one case.

*One definition of prevalence is the number of people per population who are affected with the disease at any one time; so it is like a snapshot of all existing cases at that time.

*The incidence is the number of new cases developing the disease per year in the population.

NB These figures are not definitive and should be used only as guidelines.
Source: Myasthenia Gravis Association. 2004.

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