DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the most prevalent form of muscular dystrophy, which is a disorder that causes muscles to weaken and tighten gradually. Almost the majority of cases of the illness involve boys, and symptoms generally appear in early childhood. Moreover, standing, walking, and climbing are difficult for children that have DMD. Many people eventually require the use of wheelchairs to go about. 

Furthermore, DMD is a hereditary disorder. Those who inherit it have a mutation in a gene that codes for dystrophin, a muscle protein. This protein helps maintain the muscle cells healthy. Hence, as a kid with DMD grows, its absence causes fast muscle degeneration.

Your child’s muscles will weaken as they grow older, and they will most likely be unable to walk. By the age of 12, many boys with DMD will require the use of a wheelchair to go around. Although some children only live into their teens, the prognosis for this disease is significantly better than it was previously. Young individuals with DMD can now attend college, work, marry, and have families.

SYMPTOMS

DMD symptoms often occur between the ages of 2 to 6. Moreover, symptoms of DMD include:

  • difficulty walking
  • fatigue
  • enlarged calves
  • loss of ability to walk
  • learning disabilities
  • worsening weakness in the legs, pelvis, arms, and neck
  • lack of motor skills development

DIAGNOSIS

Creatine kinase, an enzyme released when muscles are injured, will be examined in a sample of your child’s blood. If your child’s CK level is high, it’s possible that he or she has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Doctors can also look for a mutation in the dystrophin gene through a blood sample. If mutations are found in this gene, then your child may be diagnosed with DMD.

TREATMENT

Although DMD has no cure, there are medications and other treatments that can help manage your child’s symptoms, safeguard their muscles, and maintain the good working condition of their heart and lungs.

Furthermore, DMD is inherited from the mother and cannot be prevented before pregnancy. Geneticists are still working on technology that could prevent the defect from being passed down, but no treatment has yet been developed.

Hence, before getting pregnant, a couple can get genetic testing to see if they have a higher chance of having children with DMD.

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