Juliet Cohen

Fukuyama type muscular dystrophy Detailed Information

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a genetic condition.

 Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of uncommon diseases that cause muscle fibers to weaken and break down. MD affects the skeletal or voluntary muscles that manage movement in the arms, legs, and trunk. It also can affect the heart and other involuntary muscles, such as those in the gut. This disorder is predominantly found in Japan. There are nine main types of Muscular dystrophy (MD) affecting people of all ages, from infancy to middle age or later. Nine diseases including Duchenne, Becker, limb girdle, congenital, facioscapulohumeral, myotonic, oculopharyngeal, distal, and Emery-Dreifuss.

Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophies are exceeded from mother to son through one of the mother's genes in a guide called X-linked recessive inheritance. Boys inherit an X chromosome from their mothers and a Y chromosome from their fathers. The X-Y mishmash makes them male. Girls inherit two X chromosomes, one from their mothers and one from their fathers. The X-X combination determines that they are female. The defective gene that causes Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophies is situated on the X-chromosome. Women who have only one X-chromosome with the flawed gene that causes these muscular dystrophies are carriers.

Sometimes expand heart muscle problems and gentle muscle weakness. The disease can skip a generation until another son inherits the defective gene on the X-chromosome. In some cases of Duchenne's and Becker's muscular dystrophies, the disease arises from a new mutation in a gene slightly than from an inherited defective gene. Symptoms and prognosis vary, depending on the type of MD. The disease may affect some or all muscles, may develop during childhood or adulthood. The disease may growth very slowly or rapidly, and may or may not be severely disabling.

Boys with Duchenne's MD are generally in a wheelchair by the age of 12 and uncommonly live past age 20; on the other hand, people with facioscapulohumeral MD frequently have a normal life extent and generally stay able to walk, since the leg muscles are only gently affected. Also, in some types of MD, the rate of progression and the amount of disability varies significantly from patient to patient. Most types of MD affect the heart muscle and this effect in cardiomyopathy. There is no known alleviate for muscular dystrophy. Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, speech therapy and orthopedic instruments (e.g., wheelchairs, standing frames) may be helpful.

Article Tags: Muscular Dystrophy, Becker's Muscular, Muscular Dystrophies, Defective Gene

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