Home › Teens › Other Conditions › Muscular Dystrophy

FAQs

 

  • Is there anything that can slow down the muscles getting weaker?
    Muscular dystrophy is a progressive disease; this means that as time goes on the muscles with get weaker. But you can help to keep yourself flexible and well, by doing stretching exercises, which your physiotherapist will show you.   These stretching exercise help to keep you flexible and help to avoid getting stiff and sore.
     
  • Is there a cure?
    Unfortunately, at present there is no cure, but scientists around the world are working very hard to try and find a cure or therapy for muscular dystrophy. However, it takes a very long time before a treatment is allowed to be given to patients.  Doctors and scientists need to put them through very strict tests to make sure that the treatment or therapy does what it should and if there are any nasty side effects that could make things worse. 
     
  • What causes muscular dystrophy?
    You may have heard about genes, these are the building blocks for us, they determine what colour eyes with have, what colour hair we have, what height we are, what colour our skin is and much more. In muscular dystrophy one of the many genes that make us up has a fault.
     
  • What is a genetic disorder?
    A genetic disorder is a disease that is caused by an abnormality in an individual’s DNA. Abnormalities can range from a small mutation in a single gene to the addition or subtraction of an entire chromosome or set of chromosomes.
     
  • What is muscular dystrophy/neuromuscular disorders?
    Muscular dystrophy or neuromuscular disorders is the name used to describe a group of conditions, which causes a gradual loss of muscle size and strength. This means that over time the muscles become weaker and it becomes more difficult to carry out tasks and actions such as walking. Muscular Dystrophy doesn’t affect other abilities such as hearing, seeing, taste and speech.
     
  • Where can I get more information and advice?
    The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has a web site that is dedicated to muscular dystrophy conditions. It has lots of information on many types of muscular dystrophy as well as practical information on daily living issues.  There are also contact details if you need to get in touch with someone.  There is a link to the muscular dystrophy web site on this site.  And don’t forget your specialist healthcare team, who have great experience and who would be happy to answer your questions and listen to your concerns.  Other family members like your mum and dad may be able to help you find out more as well so why not include them in your journey to find out information they may learn something!
     
  • Even though I don’t have muscular dystrophy can I pass it on to my children?
    To answer this question you need to understand what a carrier is and how the faulty gene for muscular dystrophy is passed on. A carrier is a person who has the faulty gene but does not suffer from the condition.
     
    In one type of muscular dystrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy only girls who are carriers stand a chance of passing the condition on to 50% of their male (boys) children.  Boys who have the condition never carry this type of muscular dystrophy to their children.  When boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy become dads none of their male children will be affected but all of their girls will be carriers.  In some other types of muscular dystrophy both boys and girls stand a chance of passing it to their children if they have a partner who is also at risk, which is very rare.  Don’t panic if you are not sure what this means for you.  When you feel ready it can be arranged for you to speak to a specialist known as a genetic counsellor.  They should be able to explain this to you and help to work out the possible risk of this for you personally.

 

Print this pagePrint this page