r dystrophies (Muscular Dystrophy Association, 1990, 1).
The word dystrophy comes from Latin and Greek roots meaning "faulty nutrition," a name applied because doctors first began describing muscle diseases in the 19th century when they had little to go on but what they could see. Muscles in many diseases appeared to be wasting away, so the doctors theorized that they might not be being properly nourished. We now know that many muscle wasting diseases are caused by defects in genes for muscle proteins. Most of these proteins appear to play a role in supporting the structure of muscle fibers, although some may play a role in the biochemical processes that go on in muscle fibers. The term muscular dystrophy now refers to a group of genetic diseases marked by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal, or voluntary, muscles, which control movement. The muscles of the heart and some other involuntary muscles may also be affected in some forms of muscular dystrophy, and a few forms may involve other organs as well ((Muscular Dystrophy Association, 1995,
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