September is Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Month (in the US), where multiple days are dedicated to raising awareness of various muscular dystrophies, such as today’s World Duchenne Awareness Day, along with raising awareness of similar Neuromuscular Diseases.
There are many different types of muscular dystrophy, which are rare conditions that progressively cause muscle weakness and wastage. The areas of the body affected, and severity of the symptoms massively vary across types and individuals.
We’ve listed some examples of types of muscular dystrophy or muscle-weakening conditions below to help you learn more about the different conditions:
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a disorder that primarily affects males. Those with DMD experience a gradual loss of muscle function, leading to difficulties in mobility, posture, and overall physical strength.
Click here to read more about Duchenne on our previous blog post – Duchenne Awareness
Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a condition that causes progressive muscle weakness and wasting. It typically affects movement and many organs of the body such as the heart, bowels, and brain. There are two types of DM, and Type 1 tends to be more severe and more common. The age when symptoms start varies and is thought the later in life the condition starts, the milder it will be.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a disease affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems, and voluntary muscle movement. There is a loss of nerve cells called motor neurons in the spinal cord and SMA is therefore classified as a Motor Neuron Disease. The more common form of SMA is known as 5q SMA. The ‘5q’ refers to its genetic cause – deficiency of the SMN protein when a mutation is present in both copies of the SMN1 gene — one on each chromosome 5 in the region labelled ‘q’. There are four ‘types’ of 5q SMA with Type 1 considered the most common and severe form.
In recent years, there have been exciting developments in the clinical treatment and practice towards some of these conditions which may help dramatically alter the lives and future of individuals diagnosed.
Find out more by reading the below resources:
- https://www.labiotech.eu/in-depth/duchenne-muscular-dystrophy-treatment/
- https://www.musculardystrophyuk.org/news/mda-clinical-and-scientific-conference-2024-andreas-update/
- https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/08/new-nhs-treatments-helping-extend-survival-for-babies-with-rare-muscle-wasting-disease/
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00431-023-04883-8
- https://www.sma-screening-alliance.org/map
