Muscular Dystrophy

What is Muscular Dystrophy (MD)?

One group of diseases called muscular dystrophy affects the voluntary muscles. This disease causes progressive weakness of the skeletal muscles and loss of muscle mass. This disease is caused by the interference of abnormal genes with the formation of the proteins necessary for muscle formation.

Muscular Dystrophy symptoms

Muscular dystrophy symptoms usually manifest in children. However, some forms of the disease can only be seen in adults. You may experience poor balance, difficulty in standing, inability or running, a wobbling gait, deformations of the calf and trouble getting up from a sitting or lying position.

Different types of Muscular Dystrophy

It is a collection of diseases that can affect different parts of your body, as we have already mentioned. There are three main types of this disease:

• Duchenne muscular Dystrophy-This is the most prevalent form of the disease, affecting 1 in 3500 male children around the world. The disease usually affects children between 2 and 6. The symptoms of the disease include deformed muscles in the arms, legs and spine. Most patients are wheelchair-bound by age 12

• Becker muscular Dystrophy-It’s a milder form of Duchenne that appears between the ages 2 and 16. Becker is a slower-growing disease and has a greater chance of survival than Duchenne

• Limb Girdle muscular dystrophy– This form of the disease is most common in teenagers. It starts with weakness in the hip muscles, then slowly progresses to arms, legs and shoulders. This disease causes difficulty walking and often results in the need to be confined to a wheelchair by 20 years of age

• Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy- This form of the disease affects the muscles in the upper arms, shoulder blades, and face. The disease usually begins in early teens. This form of the disease can cause difficulty in chewing, closing their eyes, and moving their arms

• Myotonic muscle dystrophy– This is the most common type of muscular dystrophy in adolescence. It causes inability to contract muscles and can be described as the inability to move them after they have contracted. The most common areas affected are the neck and face muscles.Muscular Dystrophy Treatment

There is currently no treatment available in medical science. The course of the disease can be slowed by medications, high-protein diets, and therapies. For slowing down muscle weakness, it is recommended to do yoga, exercise, and respiratory care.