The average age to begin walking for a child with this genetic disorder is approximately eighteen months. When the sufferer is young, they can start showing small signs such as the following: falling, trouble walking/running, difficulty climbing stairs, and/or not having the ability to stand on their own very well. As these problems begin to worsen, they begin to weaken the pelvic muscle. The child walks on the balls of his or her feet and with the abdomen pushed forward. The muscles in the shoulders will also become weak as the child loses the ability to raise his or her arms (Abramovitz p. 19-21). A short timeline is provided in the book Muscular Dystrophy; it provides information to describe readers the symptoms that begin to show at different ages. Around nine years old, the child is unable to stand from a sitting position. At the age of ten years old, the child shows loss of ability in standing from ground level, climbing stairs, and he or she is beginning to walk only with the help of support braces. At 11 years of age, children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy cannot usually walk for even thirty minutes at a time, and this worsens by age 12, when a wheelchair is often required full time (Muscular p. …show more content…
Highly suggested for DMD sufferers, passive exercises can be extremely helpful. Having help from an able person to lift and stretch the affected muscles on a regular basis proves to benefit strongly (Abromovitz p.35-41). Suggested high fluid and fiber diet and not too extreme caloric intake is favorable for the patient, also (“Duchenne”). Two forms of therapies provide aid to the affected person. Hydrotherapy, which does not cause strain in the muscles, creates an enjoyable experience for the child or young adult. Due to the strain placed on the lungs, it has become necessary in most patients to perform breathing therapy. In this, a therapist must follow a procedure to make the boy or girl attempt to cough. Once the person has done so, the therapist will then extract the mucus that has formed (Abramovitz