What Is Muscular Dystrophy Anyway?

Since we’ve been talking about the fill the boot campaign the annual MDA telethon, why not use our “what is” series to take a closer look at the group of diseases we commonly refer to as muscular dystrophy. While most EMS caregivers have a general idea of what to expect in a muscular dystrophy presentation, few of us are as knowledgeable as we should be about what muscular dystrophy is and what it does to the body. Let’s take a closer look. While we tead to refer to muscular dystrophy as a single defined disease process, it is actually a group of disease that share some common characteristics. Add to that the fact that all of these diseases are degenerative in nature and you can imagine how remarkably different these patients can be. The nine primary diseases in the muscular dystrophy group are all inherited. Genetic abnormalities like defects in muscle proteins lead to abnormally rapid cellular death and progressive muscle weakness. It is this genetic anomaly that also makes the disease far more likely to appear in males than females. Some of these diseases confine themselves to specific muscle groups but most of them are multi-system, affecting not only skeletal muscle but the muscles of the GI tract, the respiratory system and the heart. Long term treatment of MD patients focuses on maintaining muscle tone through activity and prevention of contractures and immobility. They may also require constant advanced airway support and mobility assistance. Mo...
Source: The EMT Spot - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: EMT Source Type: blogs