Muscular Dystrophy is a disease that can be passed on through generations. It is the progrssively weakening of muscles due tothe missing or wrong genetic information that make the body stops making protein that build and maintain muscles.
There are many different symptoms for different types of muscular dystrophies. Generally, the signs are:
- Weakening of muscle
- Coordination problems
There are nine main types of muscular dystrophy:
- Myotonic
- Congenital
- Duchenne
- Becker
- Limb-girdle
- Facioscapulohumeral
- Oculopharyngeal
- Distal
- Emery-Dreifuss
1. Myotonic
It is also known as Strinert’s disease. It causes the muscle to be stiff and unable to relax as well as the signs mention in the general section. This dystrophy does not affect its carrier until adulthood though it can affect children too. The symptoms of adult-onset myotonic dystrophy are:
Weakening of different muscles
Feeling dizzy or fainting
Unable to get a good night sleep and feel sleepy in the day, unable to stay focus
Balding in men
Mild diabetes
Cataracts
2. Congenital
This type of muscular dystrophy is present in the victim since birth. Signs may include:
Serious weakening of muscles
Breathing problem
Swallowing problem
Cognitive impairment
3. Duchenne
The most severe type of dystrophy and most common among children. Most of the victims are young boys and the signs normally show at the ages 2-3. Symptoms includes:
Falling frequently
Large calf muscle
Having difficulty in running and jumping
Unable to get up from a sitting position easily
Mild mental retardation
4. Becker’s
It’s a less serious type of dystrophy. Most of the victims are male teenagers. The symptoms are similar to Duchenne, but the signs only show around an age of 11 or even later.
5. Limb-girdle
The muscle at the hip and shoulders area will be affected first, followed by the arms and limbs. The process is slow and it may start from early childhood to adulthood.
6. Facioscapulohumeral
it’s also known as Landouzy-Dejerine dystrophy. Signs are weakening of muscles at areas such as face, shoulders, stomach, feet, arms and pelvic area.
7. Oculopharyngeal
Signs normally start at the area around the eyes, follow by the face and neck, which causes breathing problem. This normally occurs to a middle age person.
8. Distal
The dystrophy starts between the age of 40 and 60. It involves muscle at areas such as hands, feets and other body parts that are furthest away from the main body.
9. Emery-Dreifuss
This form normally occurs in the shoulder and upper arms muscle. Feeling stiff at the spine area is also one of the signs and Emery-Dreifuss starts at early teens of males only.
Currently there is no cure doe the disease but medication is availableto slow down the process.
Opinion
through my research about the disease, i had learn alot more about the disease. i didnt know that there is so many types of muscular dystrophies and that some of them only affect the males. Also that the disease can start since birth.
