Muscular Dystrophy

Unable to locate Global Block

What is Muscular Dystrophy Disease?

is a group of diseases that make muscles weaker and less flexible over time. It is caused by a problem in the genes that control how the body keeps muscles healthy. For some people, the disease starts early in childhood. Others don’t have any symptoms until they are teenagers or middle-aged adults.

How muscular dystrophy affects you or your child depends on the kind. Most people’s condition will get worse over time, and some people may lose the ability to walk, talk, or care for themselves. But that doesn’t happen to everyone. Other people can live for many years with mild symptoms.

There are more than 30 kinds of muscular dystrophy, and each is different based on:

The genes that cause it
The muscles it affects
The age when symptoms first appear
How quickly the disease gets worse

Causes of Dystrophy Disease

Certain genes are involved in making proteins that protect muscle fibers. Muscular dystrophy occurs when one of these genes is defective.

Each form of muscular dystrophy is caused by a genetic mutation particular to that type of the disease. Most of these mutations are inherited.

Symptoms of Dystrophy Disease

The symptoms of Becker muscular dystrophy are similar but tend to start in the mid-twenties or later, are milder, and progress more slowly.

Early symptoms include:

A waddling gait
Pain and stiffness in the muscles
Difficulty with running and jumping
Walking on toes
Difficulty sitting up or standing
Learning disabilities, such as developing speech later than usual
Frequent falls

As time goes on, the following become more likely:

Inability to walk
Shortening of muscles and tendons, further limiting movement
Breathing problems can become so severe that assisted breathing is necessary
The curvature of the spine can be caused if muscles are not strong enough to support its structure
The muscles of the heart can be weakened, leading to cardiac problems
Difficulty swallowing, with a risk of aspiration pneumonia. A feeding tube is sometimes necessary.