Muscular Dystrophy
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Telomere shortening affects muscular dystrophy gene
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Identification of stem cells raises possibility of new therapies
Many diseases – obesity, Type 2 diabetes, muscular dystrophy – are associated with fat accumulation in muscle. In essence, fat replacement causes the muscles to weaken and degenerate.
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Firefly protein lights up degenerating muscles, aiding muscular-dystrophy research
Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have created a mouse model of muscular dystrophy in which degenerating muscle tissue gives off visible light. The observed luminescence occurs only in damaged muscle tissue ...
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Promoting muscle regeneration in a mouse model of muscular dystrophy
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a degenerative skeletal muscle disease caused by mutations in the protein dystrophin. Dystrophin functions to protect muscle cells from injury and loss of functional dystrophin results ...
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Cell metabolism: Muscle loss can be caused by mitochondrial degradation induced by protein Mul1
Muscle withering can occur as part of the progression of many diseases, including cancer and muscular dystrophy, as well as during the normal aging process. Cellular organelles known as mitochondria provide ...
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Why a hereditary anemia is caused by genetic mutation in mechanically sensitive ion channel
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Researchers utilize genetically corrected stem cells to spark muscle regeneration
Researchers at the University of Minnesota's Lillehei Heart Institute have combined genetic repair with cellular reprogramming to generate stem cells capable of muscle regeneration in a mouse model for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ...
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Cell discovery could hold key to causes of inherited diseases
Fresh insights into the protective seal that surrounds the DNA of our cells could help develop treatments for inherited muscle, brain, bone and skin disorders.
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Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.
In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who grew progressively weaker, lost the ability to walk, and died at an early age became more prominent in medical journals. In the following decade, French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne gave a comprehensive account of thirteen boys with the most common and severe form of the disease, which now carries his name—Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
It soon became evident that the disease had more than one form. The other major forms are Becker, limb-girdle, congenital, facioscapulohumeral, myotonic, oculopharyngeal, distal, and Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. These diseases predominately affect males, although females may be carriers of the disease gene. Most types of MD are multi-system disorders with manifestations in body systems including the heart, gastrointestinal system, nervous system, endocrine glands, eyes and brain.
Apart from the nine major types of muscular dystrophy listed above, several MD-like conditions have also been identified. Normal intellectual, behavioral, bowel and sexual function is noticed in individuals with other forms of MD and MD-like conditions. MD-affected individuals with susceptible intellectual impairment are diagnosed through molecular characteristics but not through problems associated with disability. However, a third of patients who are severely affected with DMD may have cognitive impairment, behavioral, vision and speech problems.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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