- [Narrator] "Your Fantastic Mind", brought to you in part by Sarah and Jim Kennedy.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - Welcome to "Your Fantastic Mind".

I'm Jaye Watson.

Tonight we're taking you inside the lives of people living with a rare autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis.

- It limits you as to what you can and cannot do.

- [Jaye] And we're sharing the hope in research.

- [Neely] I was walking around the neighborhood.

I was taking the electric bike out.

I didn't need the breathing assistant anymore.

- Plus, you definitely wanna stick around for some new research about stress bragging.

What is it, you ask?

- It's the person that you're on a project with that's like, "Oh my gosh, I was up all night last night working on this project.

You don't know how much I have to handle."

- You may have never heard of it, but it's likely you've seen it in action.

But first tonight, we are heading to space.

Within the next several years, NASA has plans to send astronauts to Mars.

One of the issues, though, in longer space travel is disorientation in space.

It makes it very difficult for astronauts to perform their mission duties.

On Earth, we call this balance disorders, and they affect a lot of us.

And the good news is, the research we're about to share with you will help astronauts and Earthlings.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) The Wright brothers took their first flight in 1903, barely getting off the ground.

And now, we send astronauts into space for long stretches of time.

- [Mission Control] Lift off.

- [Jaye] Despite every advance, there is a human reality, the stress on the body in space.

- [Rich] What you see in front of you is 245,000 pounds.

- [Jaye] Enter the Kraken.

- [Operator] Okay, run in three, two, one.

(upbeat rock music) - [Jaye] Named for a mythical massive tentacled sea creature capable of dragging ships beneath the waves... (Kraken roaring) This Kraken sits on dry land at the Naval Medical Research Unit on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

- And so it sits on top of a large gear, planetary gear, and there are eight planetary motors underneath that.

- [Jaye] Retired US Navy Captain Rich Folga is the head of the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Device Program.

- The turntable's about 35 and a half feet in diameter, and then that contains the entire moving structure.

So, that's our planetary axis, that whole rotating system controls all six axes inside of it.

(alarm blaring) - [Jaye] This disorientation research device spins occupants in multiple directions, simulating the disorientation astronauts experience during space flight.

The Kraken is the star of the SWAN study.

Funded by a grant from NASA, it's a collaboration between NASA, Johns Hopkins, and Emory Universities, and the Naval Medical Research Unit in Dayton.

- They don't have a Kraken, we don't have their expertise, but when you put the two together, now you can run an experiment that has significant interest, not just for Department of Defense, but for the US government, and in this case, with space, it's National Strategic strategy.

Kraken Cam is my baby.

- [Jaye] The trial has two goals, to give astronauts a tool to help their motion sickness, and to hopefully help some of the millions of people on Earth who live with balance and dizziness issues.

- About a third of the population have a problem with their balance system.

- [Jaye] At the core of this research is the vestibular system, which is smaller than a dime, but capable of causing big issues.

- We're gonna ask that you walk the perimeter.

- [Jaye] Researchers Michael Schubert and Colin Grove are vestibular physiologist and physical therapist.

- I'm gonna have you turn around this time.

- [Jaye] And while the Kraken is the star of the study, the unsung hero is our vestibular system.

Think of it as our body's balance and motion control center, tucked away inside our inner ear.

- [Michael] It's an awesome soft tissue organ.

You have two of them actually inside the temporal bone.

And it exists of three organelles that detect rotational movement and two organelles that detect acceleration.

- [Jaye] It's what keeps us steady when we walk, and lets us know when we're upside down.

- The vestibular system's always working, and that's in part because it detects gravity.

- [Jaye] But in space, where there's no gravity pulling on these structures like normal, astronauts can get disoriented.

There's a couple different theories about space motion sickness.

Sensory conflict theory is that your brain gets signals from your body, and that what you see and what you feel in your inner ear has to match, and when it doesn't, you get motion sickness.

Grove explains the other theory of motion sickness.

- Otolith mass asymmetry theory, which basically states that there's more gravity sensing crystals in one inner ear than the other.

In a normal human being who's earthbound, that's compensated for, our body deals with that.

And then you go up into space, and your brain has to make an adjustment.

And so now what we've normally been adjusting to on Earth, that little bit of difference between our two balance systems, it's thrown off.

- [Mission Control] T-minus 10, nine, eight.

- [Jaye] Space motion sickness has become a bigger issue as astronauts space travel for longer periods of time.

- Their motion sickness is likely being induced by that transition from one gravitational environment to another, from normal gravity here on Earth to microgravity in space.

- [Jaye] Healthy service members are participants in the trial, spending an hour in the capsule at the heart of the Kraken.

- [Rich] And in order to achieve the sustained acceleration, we're gonna move it off the center and then create a centrifugation.

And then we're gonna bring them up to speed, which in our case is roughly 125 degrees per second, and we're gonna rotate them for an hour to achieve the centrifugation effects on their perceptual system.

Mostly the vestibular system.

And we want them to get a certain level of motion sickness, but being humans, they're all a little bit unpredictable.

- [Assistant] Halfway there.

Breathe normal.

- [Jaye] After that hour in the capsule, half of the participants will rest to recover.

- Does that dot seem like it's right in front of you?

- [Jaye] But the other half will use a patented device, stabilized with active neurofeedback.

- Once you start, we want you to adjust the knob continuously to match your current level of motion sickness.

- [Jaye] It includes wearing goggles that have sensors in them to detect head motion.

- StableEyes is a patented technology that we developed that changes the function of the vestibular ocular reflex.

The VOR is a reflex that keeps your eyeballs still during head movement.

(wind chimes ringing) - [Assistant] Okay, all the way to the center.

- [Colin] The exercise for this study, for the SWAN study, is a graded head movement exercise.

So the subjects begin the exercise by starting to move their head very slowly and in a very small amplitude.

And then the SWAN device guides them through what they see on the wall in front of them and through the auditory feedback to gradually move their head more and more and more and more.

- [Assistant] First, will you move your head from side to side?

- And that's that graded exposure to head movement, gradually ramping that up, is what we think is key to this working.

- [Assistant] We're gonna do one more lean all the way to the left.

- [Colin] They only do it after they land, after the flight is done, and they're recovering from that.

(gentle music) - [Jaye] This do it yourself approach to motion sickness is critically important, because when NASA sends astronauts to Mars, they will have to recover from changes in gravity in order to complete their mission.

- [Rich] I think the overarching goal of SWAN is to have a validated, self-automated rehab tool.

That is, we can provide people in the military, that are out in austere environments, a way to treat their dizziness and balance symptoms.

- [Jaye] It's also essential for people on Earth, who need to function in their daily lives.

- [Rich] That's really the greater goal, is to give people, put in the hands of people to treat themselves.

That's the end game.

- This week, we are learning about myasthenia gravis, a rare and often misunderstood autoimmune and neuromuscular disease that disrupts the body's ability to communicate with its own muscles.

It can make simple tasks like speaking, swallowing, or even keeping one's eyes open, exhausting challenges.

For those living with it, hope is in promising new medications opening up a future they once feared was out of reach.

(gentle music) - It's a lot faster than a four to eight hour infusion.

Okay, this one will be in my belly.

All right, we're gonna do another one.

I never get used to them.

Yeah, it's been a long journey.

- [Jaye] 39-year-old Neely Freeman lets her eight-year-old daughter Ava help place the needles.

- [Neely] All right, we're gonna do another one.

- [Jaye] The needles will deliver immunoglobulin therapy, which will block antibodies that attack Freeman's body.

- [Neely] Good job.

- [Jaye] It was when Ava was a baby that Freeman began having trouble picking her up and holding her.

- And it didn't make sense to me, because the more she grew and the heavier she got, the weaker my arms felt, and that I couldn't hold her.

- [Jaye] When Freeman told her doctor about her weakness and exhaustion... - I mean, I feel like it's pretty occasional.

- [Jaye] She was diagnosed with postpartum depression and prescribed antidepressants.

Her health kept declining.

She had trouble swallowing.

A career nurse, one of Freeman's colleagues asked why she didn't smile anymore.

Her muscles were weakening.

It would be over a year before she would be diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, known as MG. - I didn't know what it was.

I thought, okay, I remember learning about this maybe on one slide in nursing school and never talking about it again.

I knew it was a better diagnosis than ALS, that it was treatable.

- Okay, so, Ms. Freeman, since the last time we met... Maybe I make a new diagnosis every other week.

- [Jaye] Dr. R. Carolina Garcia Santibanez... - And palms up.

- [Jaye] Is an Emory neurologist who has expertise in myasthenia gravis.

- [R. Carolina] Just today, three of my patients were myasthenics.

(gentle music) - [Jaye] Myasthenia gravis causes weakness in the body's voluntary muscles, like the ones we use for breathing or talking or moving our arms and legs.

- It is an autoimmune disease where your body produces proteins, in this case, antibodies, that attack the neuromuscular junction.

The neuromuscular junction is the part where the nerve and the muscle communicate in order for you to move.

- [Jaye] A chemical called acetylcholine helps signals pass from nerves to muscles to make them contract.

But in people with MG, antibodies block or destroy those signals, making muscle movement difficult.

Symptoms of myasthenia gravis include droopy eyelids, blurred or double vision, slurred speech, trouble swallowing, weak arms, legs, and neck, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulty.

While researchers know MG is due to antibodies against proteins in the neuromuscular junction, what they do not know is what causes autoimmune diseases like this in general.

MG tends to impact women in their 20s and 30s, and more men than women in their 50s and 60s.

It is rare.

- [R. Carolina] The incidence of myasthenia may be around like three per 100,000.

- I didn't think I had symptoms until that Saturday, when my speech totally went.

When it comes to holding cups, sometimes you'll pick up a cup and you think you've got it, and it's gone.

So, nothing.

(gentle music) - [Jaye] Rick Sullins is a talented musician who was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.

- My MG is bulbar.

Primarily this area.

I struggle heavily with mucus.

Where your esophagus continually pushes mucus down, mine doesn't, it just builds.

This is Saturday 18th, and this is behind the scenes that people don't see the hard parts of MG. - [Jaye] Sullins shared videos of himself and the slurred speech that is the result of the chronic autoimmune disease.

- It's very hard to swallow.

Breathing is labored.

- How are your symptoms going?

- [Rick] They call it snowflake disease because, excuse me, no two people that have it are the same.

- So the psoriatic arthritis- - [Jaye] Case in point, Neely Freeman has seronegative myasthenia gravis, meaning the standard blood tests don't detect it, making diagnosis more difficult and often delayed.

- With the plan with the rheumatologist.

- [Jaye] As many as 10 to 15% of MG patients are seronegative.

- It is clear that- - [Jaye] And Dr. Garcia sees patients from around the country because she does the specialized testing to confirm the disease.

- But I had no clue what fatiguable muscle weakness really was, because I was a person used to being very active, and I didn't realize the lifestyle change of having to be less active so that you weren't fatiguing your muscles.

So, that didn't compute with me.

I didn't know how to slow down.

- [Jaye] Freeman had to leave her job as a nurse at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

- [Neely] You kind of question your role.

It's like, am I still a mom if I can't take care of my child?

Within a year and a half, I had had five myasthenic crises, which means your respiratory muscles have stopped, or my swallowing muscles have stopped and my airway was compromised and I had to be intubated and ventilated.

- It limits you as to what you can and cannot do, and that's the part where the depression comes.

That's where it gets hard.

- [Jaye] Sullins was also hospitalized and critically ill multiple times.

- So, myasthenia gravis crisis is when there is this worsening of the myasthenia gravis condition, and patients have this more rapidly progressing difficulty breathing and swallowing that often lands them in the hospital.

- Hey, Rick.

- Hey, Dana.

- [Jaye] Sullins and Freeman failed multiple treatments for MG, so both did a treatment called plasma exchange.

This several hours long process is similar to dialysis, in which the blood is taken from the body, and the plasma, which contains the harmful antibodies, is separated and thrown away.

The remaining blood cells are mixed with a replacement fluid and returned to the body.

(machine beeps) After doing this for years, now Sullins and Freeman both receive a drug called efgartigimod, brand name Vyvgart, which has been a game changer for many people living with MG.

It was the first FDA approved treatment specifically designed for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis.

It has been called plasma exchange in a bottle, because it works in a similar way, but through medication rather than a blood cleansing procedure.

- [Rick] I'm blessed with a wonderful home nurse.

- [Jaye] Sullins cannot walk long distances and tires easily.

- I can walk about 80 to 100 feet and I'm done.

(gentle music) - [Jaye] He says infusions of efgartigimod allow him to still play.

- [Rick] I love to play.

(audience applauding) - Push, push, push!

There you go!

All right, you wanna go sit in the bike?

- [Jaye] Efgartigimod, combined with IG therapy... - All right, I'm turning around here.

- [Jaye] Has changed Freeman's life.

Now a married mom of two, she can keep pace with her life.

(gentle music) - I was walking around the neighborhood.

I was taking the electric bike out.

I didn't need the breathing assistant anymore.

I could take my kids to the zoo and walk around.

Lots of movement.

I've discharged two patients.

- [Jaye] She's doing so well, she's back at the job she had to leave five years ago.

- I'm a cardiac nurse at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

I love it.

When you work with children that you learn, and you also learn their resilience teaches you so much.

- And now to our final story on stress bragging.

I am so stressed about this story.

Nobody knows how stressed I am that the bosses think I'm the only one who can tell this story the way it needs to be told.

It's all on me, and I already had a lot to do.

Ta-da!

And that is stress bragging.

But what it is and what it does to the workplace is a whole other thing.

(gentle music) - If we think stress bragging's really a thing, then it should be different than just talking about stress.

Stress for employees is at an all time high.

And if you remember, stress is when the people feel like they cannot handle the demands that are on their plate.

To the potential stress bragger... - [Jaye] Jessica Rodell is teaching an MBA class on organizational behavior.

- 65% of employees characterize their work as a significant source of stress.

And what we did was we assigned people to one of four conditions.

- [Jaye] A professor of management at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business... - It's okay to vent about being stressed.

- [Jaye] Rodell's area of research is one that will hit home for everyone in the workplace.

Stress bragging.

- Stress bragging came from personal experience.

People that I work with and people in other organizations start to talk more about their stress, and I wondered why they were talking about it.

It's the person that you're on a project with that's like, "Oh my gosh, I was up all night last night working on this project.

You don't know how much I have to handle.

I have this in my classes and this at home, and I've got this to deal with," and they're listing off all the demands they have.

And in your head, you're thinking, "Yeah, we all have things that we're doing," right?

That's the person that is stress bragging.

But they're painting it in a positive light, something to be proud of, something that they've accomplished.

(gentle music) - [Jaye] Rodell and her team had 360 participants compare statements from imaginary coworkers returning from a conference.

One colleague said, "The conference was great."

Another said, "The work had been stressful."

The stress bragging colleague described the conference as, "Just one more thing on my full plate, and I was already stressed to the max.

You have no idea the stress I am under."

Participants found the stress bragging colleague less likable and less competent than the other imaginary colleagues, and they said they would be less likely to help the stress braggart if they were overburdened at work.

- The truth is that probably most people who stress brag don't know that they stress brag.

They didn't wake up and say, "You know what?"

(laughs) "I'm gonna tell everybody how stressed I am today.

That's really gonna work out for me."

(laughs) - [Jaye] Rodell's team found similar results when they surveyed 218 real life employees about their personal experiences with stress braggarts.

And they found something else, that stress bragging is contagious.

It spills over onto coworkers, who wind up feeling more stressed, which leads to more burnout and withdrawal from their work.

It's normal to want recognition that we're doing meaningful work and that what we do matters.

- Stress has become an easy way to signal that to others, to try to capture all the effort that we think we're putting into work and show it to others, to say, "I'm working hard, I'm trying my best.

Look how hard I'm working.

I'm even sacrificing my own wellbeing in order to do this well, and we want recognition."

When people brag about stress, what really happens?

- [Jaye] If right about now, you're beginning to wonder if you've ever been guilty of stress bragging, take comfort.

- Yes, I'm sure that I have.

Or my husband would tell you that I have.

(laughs) - [Jaye] Here's the thing.

There's a difference between talking about being stressed and bragging about it.

- Talking about stress is not all bad.

It allows us to vent and connect with other people.

But once we start to brag about it, it takes a turn.

- [Jaye] Rodell's research actually found that people perceived as being stressed are actually seen as more competent.

It's when you throw in the bragging that it becomes a problem.

For example.

- It can be boasting about how many responsibilities you have, right?

"Ugh, my boss just can't seem to start a new project without putting me on it.

I already have so much on my plate.

Why do they have to involve me in everything that has to get done?"

- [Jaye] Because of the contagious impact of stress bragging in the workplace, Rodell says leaders need to address it.

- It would be prudent for leaders to pay attention to this and not just brush it under the rug, because there is potentially a contagion, crossover, spiraling effect, and if they can nip it early, they can help it from spreading.

- And on that non-stress bragging note, our time is up.

We'll see you next time on "Your Fantastic Mind".

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] "Your Fantastic Mind", brought to you in part by Sarah and Jim Kennedy.