Types of Muscular Dystrophy Muscular dystrophy is the name giv

Muscular dystrophy is the name given to a group of genetic disorders marked by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal, or voluntary, muscles that control movement. Muscular dystrophy can also affect the muscles of the heart and other involuntary muscles in some forms of the disease (The Complete Directory, 1998, 683). Sufferers from the disease experience a gradual decline in strength and muscle bulk. There are nine types of muscular dystrophy generally recognized, and these include Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD); Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD); EmeryDreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD); Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSH); Myotonic dystrophyOculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD); Distal muscular dystrophy (DD); and Congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD). Each of these has somewhat different etiology, location, and symptoms (Robinson, 1999, 1979).

These different types of muscular dystrophy are identified as follows:

M Duchenne muscular dystrophy affects young boys, causing progressive muscle weakness, usually beginning in the legs. It is the most severe form of muscular dystrophy and occurs in about one in 3,500 male births, and affecting approximately 8,000 boys and young men in the United States. There is milder form that occurs in very few female carriers.

M Becker muscular dystrophy affects older boys and young men and follows a milder course than DMD, occurring in about one in 30,000 male births.

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c dystrophy, type IV EhlersDanlos syndrome, and Marfan syndrome (Nehring & Faux, 199, 19-21). Findings continue to point to specific genetic factors for different muscular dystrophies. A recent study from the University of manitoba, for instance, suggests that a mutant gene is responsible for a form of muscular dystrophy that gradually kills muscle cells in the victim's shoulders and hips. Researchers report that the flawed gene affected about 40 members of Manitoba Hutterite communities but may not be restricted to those families ("Tracking a gene," 1998, 62). The fact that muscular dystrophy has a genetic cause has led to consideration as to whether genetic testing could predict the disease. Advances in genetic technology increase the ability to test children and adolescents for lateonset conditions, disease susceptibilities, and carrier status. While such tests may offer medical or psychologic benefits, they may also create harm, such as alteration of the child's selfconcept or parentchild bonds and risk of stigmatization (Lessick & Faux, 1998, 38-45). Heart defects and cardiomyopathies may accompany various genetic glycogen metabolism defects or muscle disease, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and genetic testi

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