Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
is very bad
What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a type of a muscular dystrophy that gets very bad really fast. Other muscular dystrophies worsen much slower. It makes you gradually incapable of using their muscles, and is caused by a defective gene for dystrophin (a protein in the muscles). However, it sometimes occurs in people who's family has no historic of the dystrophy, but will, on many cases be passed on to the affected person's offspring
Image 1
This image demonstrates how Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy may be passed on.
Image 2
Here we have a "victim" of the genetic disorder.
Image 3
And this is how it may progress.
What are the symptoms of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?
The symptoms may include:
Fatigue, being tired a lot.
Lack of brain intelligence capacity.
Muscle weaknesses like ability to walk may be lost by age 12, and the child will have to use a wheelchair and also breathing difficulties and heart disease that may usually start by age 20.
Other names for this disorder:
DMD
What causes DMD?
It is caused by the lack of the protein dystrophin.
What gene or chromosome is affected by this disorder?
The chromosome that is affected by DMD is the X chromosome.
Are there prenatal tests for this disorder
In many cases, prenatal testing is possible.
Are there test for this disorder?
Yes there are tests that can be taken for this disorder, some of them are: Electromyography Genetic tests Muscle biopsy Serum CPK
What population is affected? Can anyone be a candidate for the disorder?
Anyone can be affected if the parents have it, most of the affected population is male because there is no other X to cover it up.
How is it inherited?
It is sex-linked and recessive.
What kind of medical assistance will the affected child need? Will further assistance be needed, as the child grows older? What is the long-term outlook for the child?
The child will need a wheelchair, medicines may include types of steroids, and since there is no cure, it will need assistance throughout the whole life. The long term outlook is that the child will die.
Are there any treatments or cures?
There are treatments, but it has no cure, so no matter what, an person with DMD will always have DMD.
Could this disorder have been prevented?
No, but you can use genetic testing to find out if the child will be a carrier or be a victim of the dystrophy.
Can this individual have children in the future? Will those children be affected?
This individual can, indeed have children and they may be affected, however if only one parent has or is a carrier, the child will not have the disorder, they will only be a carrier, for it is a recessive disorder.
What is the current status of research on this disorder? Is there a cure coming soon?
Current research in DMD is aimed at restoring the production of altered and functional dystrophin, with the goal of transforming DMD muscular dystrophy into a clinical presentation similar to that observed in the milder Becker muscular dystrophy, but sadly, there is no prevision of the date of an upcomig cure.