Muscular Dystrophy, crippling disease characterized by gradual wasting of skeletal muscle. The clinical course is progressive, with increased weakness and diminution in muscle mass and function until the patient is confined to a wheelchair; remissions do not occur. Four clinical forms of the disease are recognized, based on pattern of inheritance, age when symptoms are first noted, and distribution of the muscles earliest involved. Microscopic abnormalities of skeletal muscle are found in each type. In …showed first 75 words of 433 total…

…showed last 75 words of 433 total…but the biochemical steps by which this genetic defect manifests itself in the degenerative process in the muscle are not known. Because specific treatment is not available, general measures, including physical and occupational therapy, are used. Genetic tests for mutations in the different genes causing muscular dystrophy provide rapid and accurate diagnosis for patients. In the case of the X-linked Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies, these tests allow detection of female carriers of the disorders.