DESCRIPTION OF MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY
Muscular dystrophy is a group of progressive, genetic diseases in which the muscles that control movement degenerate and weaken. In some forms of this inherited disease, the heart and other involuntary muscles and organs are affected too.
There are nine types of muscular dystrophy - (1) Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (2) Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (3) Becker Muscular Dystrophy (4) Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (5) Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (6) Congenital Muscular Dystrophy (7) Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy (8) Distal Muscular Dystrophy (9) Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy.
The forms differ in age at which the disease appears, the severity, the muscles affected, the rate of symptom progression and the way the disease is inherited. Some forms only affect males, others affect both male and females. Some sufferers enjoy a normal life span with mild symptoms that progress very slowly while others experience fast and severe muscle weakness and wasting, and die in their late teens to early 20s. Through advances in medical care, children with muscular dystrophy are living longer than ever before.
There are several tests to determine whether one has muscular dystrophy or not, such as, a needle biopsy - a small sample of muscle tissue is taken from the thigh which is used to determine whether it contains dystrophin. Other tests include electromyography, electrocardiography, and the traditional "open muscle biopsy" where a cut is made into the skin and a piece of muscle is removed and the muscle fibers are examined under a microscope.
SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE
1. Myotonic (also called Steinert's disease) - The most common form of muscular dystrophy in adults, myotonic muscular dystrophy affects both men and women, an it usually appears any time from early childhood to adulthood. In rare congenital cases, it appears in newborns. The name refers to a system myotomia - prolonged...