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masquerading as motor neuron disease. Muscle Nerve 1988; 11: 103–107. 2 N. Strigl-Pill, A. Konig, M. Schroder, H. Beranek, B.G.H. Schoser, M. Spaeth, D. Pongratz, W. Muller-Felber. Prediction of response to IVIG treatment in patients with lower motor neurone disorders. European Journal of Neurology 2006; 13: 135–140. 3 Ibid. Your hands are weak and your legs twitch with involuntary movements. It’s not the same weakness that follows you home from the gym after lifting weights. It’s a wasting weakness in your hands, in your fingers, in your wrists that depletes your strength like a massive black hole. It’s a weakness that never ceases, and the twitching and cramping never let go. This weakness, these involuntary contractions are your reality when you have multifocal motor neuropathy. According to the Multifocal Motor Neuropathy Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) is an immune disorder that is typically identified by “focal weakness” in different parts of the body, such as “wrist drop, grip weakness, impaired dexterity or foot drop. ... Only motor fibers are affected in MMN.” People with MMN often experience weakness, yet typically do not experience other sensory symptoms such as numbness or tingling. MMN was first described in 1985 as the result of the examination of four patients experiencing progressive weakness that resembled motor neuron disorders. Often mistaken for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, MMN affects more men than women. According to an article in the 2006 European Journal of Neurology, the factors that cause MMN have been narrowed down to motor conduction blockages. Once associated with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), the medical community now considers MMN an entirely separate entity that is not related to CIDP. Unlike CIDP and other demyelinating neuropathies, studies indicate that patients with MMN show no signs of their condition improving or worsening when treated with steroids or plasmapheresis. Multifocal