nd shoulders. It is the most variable of the muscular dystrophies, and there are several different forms of the disease recognized today.
M Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy is also known as Landouzy Dejerine disease, and it begins in late childhood to early adulthood and affects both men and women, causing weakness in the muscles of the face, shoulders, and upper arms. FSH occurs in about one out of every 20,000 people, and affects approximately 13,000 people in the United States.
M Myotonic dystrophy, also known as Steinert's disease, affects both men and women, causing generalized weakness first seen in the face, feet, and hands. It is accompanied by the inability to relax the affected muscles (myotonia). Symptoms may begin from birth through adulthood. This is the most common form of muscular dystrophy, affecting more than 30,000 people in the United States.
M Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy affects adults of both sexes, causing weakness in the eye muscles and throat. The disease is most common among French Canadian families in Quebec and in Spanish American families in the southwestern United States.
M Distal muscular dystrophy begins in middle age or later and causes weakness in the muscles of the feet and hands. It is most common in Sweden and rare elsewhere.
M Congenital muscular dystrophy is present from birth and results in generalized weakness, usually progressing slowly. It is rare (Robinson, 1999, 1979).
Little was known about the disease when the Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded in 1950, and at the time, only one physician in the United States devoted his practice to caring for patients with these diseases. That has changed greatly through research supported by the association. Today, research includes genetic research techniques to pinpoint the genetic defects underlying Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies and to find cures for these and other muscula...