Muscular Dystrophy may seem like a well known disease but in all actuality it isn't.
There are three types of Muscular Dystrophy; Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular
Dystrophy, and Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy (Myotonic is then broken down into two other subcategories). Although each may be similar in some ways they are also completely different and each has their own level of severity. Treatments and outcomes stay rather similar but the symptoms and signs may differ quite a bit.
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Muscular Dystrophy: The Details Nobody Knows
Let's start with the basics, what is Muscular Dystrophy? Muscular Dystrophy is "... a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. In muscular dystrophy, abnormal genes (mutations) …show more content…
Some degeneration can then affect the heart and other organs. There are three different forms of muscular dystrophy;
Duchenne dystrophy (most common), Becker (a milder form of Duchenne), and Myotonic muscular dystrophy (can have an onset later in childhood). In most cases signs began to show in early infancy and go throughout adulthood.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a rapidly progressive form of MD that occurs mainly in boys. It is a mutation in a gene. The gene is called the DMD gene, which can be inherited by families in an X- linked recessive state, although it normally occurs in families that have no known history of the condition. "The estimated worldwide incidence of DMD is approximately
1:3500 male live births, and affected boys have markedly elevated creatine kinase (CK) activities."(Moat, S., Bradley, D., Salmon, R., Clarke, A., & Hartley, L) Duchenne Muscular
Dystrophy starts in the lower limbs of the body and has generated muscle loss and weakness of the muscles. "The DMD gene is the second largest gene to date, which encodes the …show more content…
The weakness of the muscles may vary depending on which type of Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy the person has and the age of the person. Another symptom is, it may be hard for the person to relax their muscles ex: people holding hands, for a person with
Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy it may be difficult for them to let go of the other person's hand.
The heart may also begin to weaken and an abnormal heart rhythm may occur. Muscles used for breathing will also weaken over time. One small difference in symptoms with type 1 and type 27 is that in type 1, the involuntary muscles are affected which included the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to constipation, trouble swallowing, and gallstones. In females the muscles of the uterus can be affected which may lead to problems in labor and pregnancy. One other uncommon symptom of both types of MMD is that cataracts may occur early in life. The progression of