What Is Muscular dystrophy?

Muscular dystrophy is a disease in which the muscles of the body get weaker and weaker and slowly stop working. Muscles and membranes need many different kinds of proteins to stay healthy. When you hear the word "protein" you might think of food because foods, such as meat and peanut butter, contain protein. But we're talking about another kind of protein — the kind your body creates. Your genes tell your body how to make the proteins your muscles need. But in people with muscular dystrophy, these genes have wrong information or leave out important information, so the body can't make these proteins properly. Without these proteins, the muscles break down and weaken over time. As this happens to muscles, people with muscular dystrophy begin to have problems with the way their bodies work.

Different Types of muscular dystrophy

There are more than 30 types of muscular dystrophy. In some types, muscle problems start when the person is very young. With other types, symptoms of muscular dystrophy start later, sometimes not until the person is a grown-up. This article talks about two types: Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy. Generally, only boys get Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy, but girls are affected by these types in rare cases and can get other forms of muscular dystrophy.

Most kids with muscular dystrophy have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Kids with Duchenne muscular dystrophy look and act just like other kids when they're babies. But when they're between 2 and 6 years old, the muscles in their arms, legs, and pelvis (hips) begin to get weaker. First signs of weakness may be difficulty running, getting up stairs, or up off of the floor. A boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy will have trouble walking and eventually will stop walking. The boy may also have trouble feeding himself, difficulty breathing, and trouble with his heart, which is a muscle.

How Does a Kid Get Muscular dystrophy?

Muscular dystrophy is not contagious, which means you can't catch it from another person. Muscular dystrophy happens because of a problem with a person's genes. Your genes are passed down to you from parents and they contain information about all kinds of stuff. They determine your eye color, hair color, height, and also whether you will have certain medical problems.

When they're young, kids with muscular dystrophy don't look any different from other kids. Later on, they may need wheelchairs or leg braces to get around. It's hard to imagine what it might feel like if you had trouble getting up from a chair, playing sports, or even walking. If you don't have muscular dystrophy, your muscle weakness from exercise will go away after a short time. But for kids with muscular dystrophy , muscle weakness is always there — when they wake up and when they go to sleep. Muscular dystrophy can also affect the brain, which can cause learning problems, but most kids with muscular dystrophy can go to school in a regular classroom with other kids.

What Does the Doctor Do?

When kids begin to have muscle problems and weakness, they go to the doctor, who can do tests to see if a kid has muscular dystrophy . The doctor will examine the weak muscles and test the kid's blood. Or the doctor might take a small piece of the muscle and look at it under a microscope to help tell whether a kid has muscular dystrophy. Other tests measure the work that nerves are doing in the muscles and can help doctors figure out if something else is causing the muscle weakness.

Helping Kids With Muscular Dystrophy

Kids with muscular dystrophy can do a few things to help their muscles. Certain exercises help keep their muscles as strong as possible. Also, special braces help keep the tendons flexible. Tendons are like very strong rubber bands that keep your muscles attached to your bones. If the tendons get tight, the muscles can't work as well, so the braces keep the tendons from tightening up too much. Kids with muscular dystrophy also do breathing exercises, or play instruments. This helps fill their lungs with air and helps prevent them from getting pneumonia, an infection of the lungs.

Some kids with muscular dystrophy take medications to keep their muscles stronger. For some kids, medications called steroids may slow down the weakening of the muscles. A side effect of steroids is that they can cause a kid to gain weight. Many scientists are working on ways to help people with muscular dystrophy. Some scientists are trying to fix the genes so they will make the right proteins. Other scientists are trying to make chemicals that will act like these proteins. They hope that this will help the muscles work better in people with muscular dystrophy.

Living With Muscular Dystrophy

Kids with muscular dystrophy may use crutches, walkers, and leg braces to help them walk. They might even use wheelchairs when their muscles get weaker. Some kids have specially trained dogs to open doors for them and carry stuff, like books or toys. But kids with muscular dystrophy like to do the same things as other kids. They like to be outside, play games, and watch TV. Kids who have muscular dystrophy can even go to special summer camps.