Muscular dystrophy
Many different methods can be used to diagnose the various types of muscular dystrophy (MD).
The age at which MD is diagnosed will vary, depending on when the symptoms first start to appear.
Diagnosis will involve some or all of the following stages:
In the first instance, visit your GP if you or your child has any symptoms of MD . If necessary, your GP may refer you to a hospital for further tests.
Your GP will need to know about any symptoms of MD that you or your child have noticed and when they began to appear. For example, you or your child may be:
Identifying when symptoms first appeared and determining which muscles are affectedis particularly useful in helping to diagnose different types of MD.
Duchenne MD is the most common type of MD in boys. Symptoms can be present from birth, but this is unusual and signs usually appear between 12 months and three years of age. You may notice that your child has difficulty walking or climbing stairs, or that they fall down more frequently than other children.
Your child may also find it difficult to stand up from sitting on the floor. They may use what's known as the Gower's manoeuvre to do this. This is where a child stands up by:
Visit your GP if you suspect your child may have MD. Your GP will look at the following when they examine your child:
If there's a history of MD in your family, it's important to discuss it with your GP. This can help to determine which type of MD you or your child might have.
For example, discussing the family history of limb-girdle MD will help your GP determine whether your type of MD is inherited as a recessive or a dominant condition (see causes of MD for more information).
A sample of blood may be taken from a vein in your or your child's arm to test it for creatine kinase (a protein usually found in muscle fibres).
When muscle fibres are damaged, creatine kinase is released into the blood. The muscle damage caused by some types of MD means that the level of creatine kinase in the blood will often be higher than normal.
A blood sample may also be used for genetic testing, and this can sometimes identify the cause of muscle problems without the need for a muscle biopsy.
A muscle biopsy involves removing a small sample of muscle tissue through a small cut (incision), or using a hollow needle,so it can be examined under a microscope and tested for proteins. The sample will usually be taken from the leg or arm, depending on the type of MD.
Analysing the protein in the muscle can help to determine which gene is causing MD and therefore which type of MD you have. For example, people with Duchenne MD and Becker MD have too little of the protein dystrophin in their muscles and it's usually an altered size.
Examining the muscle tissue under a microscope can also help to diagnose limb-girdle MD. Healthy muscle consists of closely packed, evenly sized fibres. In people with limb-girdle MD, these fibres may be missing, may be different sizes, ormay have beenreplaced with fat.
A number of other tests can be used to find out more about the spread and extent of any muscle damage. This will help your doctor to identify or confirm which type of MD you have. Treatment can then be directed where it's most needed. Some tests are explained below.
Once the doctor usually a geneticist or neurologist has an idea about what type of MD may be affecting you or your child, they may arrange genetic testing to look into this.
Genetic testing is simpler for some types of muscle conditions, so it may be arranged at an early stage if a specific condition is suspected, or after many other tests if it's more difficult to diagnose.
There are many different genes that could potentially be responsible for MD, soit would be expensive and time-consuming to test them all. However, genetic testing can sometimes confirm a diagnosis.
For example, if you're diagnosed with Duchenne MD, tests can be carried out to check for a mutation in the dystrophin gene, because mutations in this gene are directly responsible for the condition.
Genetic testing can also be used to identify carriers of MDand to perform prenatal diagnosis (when a foetus is diagnosed before the baby is born).
The muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of inherited genetic conditions that gradually cause the muscles to weaken, leading to an increasing level of disability.
There are many different types of muscular dystrophy (MD). All types cause muscle weakness, but the areas affected and the severity of the symptoms are different.
In most cases, muscular dystrophy (MD) runs in families. It usually develops after inheriting a faulty gene from one or both parents.
The age at which MD is diagnosed will vary, depending on when the symptoms first start to appear.
As different types of muscular dystrophy can cause quite specific problems, the treatment you receive will be tailored to your needs.
Genetic testing may be useful for prospective parents who have a family history of muscular dystrophy (MD) and are worried about passing the condition on to their children.