2. What is Muscular Dystrophy???
• MD is a group of disorders characterized by a professional loss
of muscle mass and consequent loss of strength.
• Most form of MD is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This affects
young boys, but can occur in adulthood.
• Affects up to 1 in every 5,000 males.
3. Symptoms
INITIAL
• Pain and stiffness in muscles
• Difficulty with running and
jumping
• Walking on toes
• Difficulty sitting up and
standing
• Speech may be affected
L ATER
• Inability to walk
• Limiting movements
• Breathing problems
• Cardiac problems
• Difficulty swallowing
4. Causes
• Main cause is a lock of protein of dystrophin.
• Genetic mutations that interfere with production of muscle
proteins
5. Types of MD
• Duchenne- Start before 3 years old, wheelchair bound by 12,
and die from respiratory failure by mid- twenties
• Becker- similar to Duchenne, but slower and longer life (mid-
forties)
• Myotonic (Steinert’s Disease)- most common adult- onset form,
inability to relax a muscle as the other one contracted, face and
neck muscles are affected first
• Congenital- obvious from birth to age of 2, affects girl and
boys
6. More types of MD
• Facioscapulohumeral- most commonly seen in teenage years,
begins in shoulders and face, can’t fully close their eyes
• Limb- Girdle- Begins in childhood or teenage years, affects
shoulder and hip first, trouble raising the front part of the foot
(tripping a lot)
• Oculopharungeal- Onset between 40-70 years old, eyelids,
throat, and face are affected first, then shoulder and pelvis
7. Treatments
• No cure
• You can improve symptoms and slow the progression down,
but not fully cure it.
• They are testing on gene therapy. Gene Therapy is the
transplantation of normal gene into cells in place of the missing
or defective cells.
8. Video and Works Cited
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68YO2eh1bIY
• Newman, Tim. "Muscular Dystrophy: Causes, Symptoms, and
Treatments." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 2
Jan. 2017. Web. 01 June 2017.
