What is Muscular Dystrophy?

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a disorder in genetic that makes the muscles helping the body move weaker and weaker gradually. This is caused by a faulty gene, nevertheless, different types of mutation in genetic will lead to different form of MD. In particular, a genetic deficiency in muscle protein (dystrophin) is the cause of various common forms of MD. Strangely, boys are more vulnerable to muscular dystrophy than girls. MD does not make the muscle weak all together; the process is rather gradual over time. This leads to the gradual deprivation of necessary abilities for adults, adolescents and even children. In fact, some kinds of MD can be observed in childhood, while many others may only come out when a person passes his/her middle age.

Kinds of Muscular Dystrophy:

Generally, we can spot nine forms of MD due to the time that the symptoms begin appearing, the muscles location, and how fast the symptoms progress. Some of the major kinds of MD are:
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD): This is one of the more common kind of MD, and it is caused by a malfunction in the procedure of making dystrophin (a type of protein). If the process is completed correctly, the protein will make the muscles strong and stay in shape. Therefore, without that protein, a person will become very vulnerable as the muscles crumble. Unfortunately, people suffering from DMD often pass away before their adulthood.
- Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FMD): the important difference between FMD and DMD is that FMD symptoms often begin when a person is in his/her adolescent years. Bit By Bit it causes the legs, arms, chest and face muscles weaker and weaker; nonetheless the symptoms can also deviate from person to person.
- Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (MMD): a person with MMD often notices its symptoms when they have turned adult. This form of MD causes difficulty for the muscles to loosen, therefore sometimes make the muscles shrink over time. It can also result in heart problems if the patient does not have medical care in time.

Diagnosing Muscular Dystrophy:

As MDs are passed along from generation to generation, oftentimes it is essential to check the patient’s family history of muscle malfunctions very carefully to have an accurate diagnosis. Also, a thorough physical test and some other exams will help determine the type of MD that the person has, as well as the right treatment for the disease.

Is there a treatment for MD? As much as we hate to acknowledge, there has been no specific therapeutic to any type of MD. There are, nevertheless, treatments to decelerate the progress of MD. These treatments will help reduce the spine deformities, control the muscle activities, delay damage to the muscle, etc. Also, medications like quinine, phenytoin or mexiletine can sometimes be used to treat myotonio, but they are not good for long term purpose.