Muscular Dystrophy and Neuromuscular Diseases
What is muscular dystrophy?
Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that is inherited from one or both parents and caused by mutations in the genes responsible for healthy muscle structure and function. Over time, muscles break down and are replaced with fatty tissue. With muscular dystrophy muscle tissue is weakness and deteriorates, and may cause a breakdown of nerve tissue. It can make movements like walking and standing up hard to do. It may even cause deformities in the joints.
Some types of muscular dystrophy don’t develop until a child becomes an adult. Others cause symptoms early in life. Children are usually diagnosed with the disorder between three and six years old. The most common types to affect children are called Duchenne and Becker.
Muscular dystrophy is divided into nine types:
- Becker
- Congenital
- Duchenne
- Distal
- Emery-Dreifuss
- Facioscapulohumeral
- Limb-Girdle
- Myotonic
- Oculopharyngeal
Symptoms of muscular dystrophy
Children with muscular dystrophy often have movement problems when they are young. They may start to walk later than normal. They may have trouble getting up from a sitting or lying position. Weakness in the shoulders and pelvic muscles is an early symptom.
Children may also have these other common symptoms of the disorder:
- Clumsiness
- Problems climbing stairs
- Trouble jumping or hopping
- Frequent tripping or falling
- Walking on their toes
- Leg pain
- Weakness in the face, shoulder, and arms
- Inability to open or close the eyes
- Large calves from fat buildup
As muscular dystophy progresses, a child may have heart or lung problems. He or she may also have scoliosis. Scoliosis is a condition that causes the spine to curve. A child with scoliosis may look like he or she is leaning to one side.
What are neuromuscular diseases?
There are many neuromuscular disorders that can affect people. They include conditions that affect muscles, nerves, and the neuromuscular junction. Common disorders include hereditary or acquired peripheral neuropathy, myopathy and muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and myasthenia gravis. At Spectrum Health Lakeland, we have neurologists with specialized training in how to diagnose and treat these disorders.