General Info About Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy

On this page you will learn general info about DMD. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is the most common and most deadly disease in the muscular dystrophy family. It degenerates the voluntary muscles of the body and sometimes it attacks the muscles of the heart and lungs. The disease affects one in every 3,000 males in the US. The word "dystrophy" in Latin and Greek means "faulty nutrition." Originally, doctors thought that DMD was just the muscles degenerating because of faulty nutrition. But, it is actually the degeneration of the muscles through a defect in the gene that contains the information for a chemical called dystrophin. The lack of this gene creates a major problem because research has shown that dystrophin helps hold muscle fibers to the connective tissue. (MDA 1998)

Here is a great picture of Jerry Lewis and One of "His Kids"

Jerry Lewis and one of

After the disease starts to take its toll, even simple tasks such as standing become a burden.

Here is a young boy standing up.