See the hottest books publishing this Summer

What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the Book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

A Novel

by Jonathan Evison
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Aug 28, 2012, 288 pages
  • Paperback:
  • May 2013, 304 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

What is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy?

This article relates to The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving

Print Review

Muscular Dystrophy encompasses a a group of usually inherited disorders that involve increasing muscle weakness and loss of muscle tissue over time. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rapidly worsening form of the disorder that affects only males. The usual cause is a defective gene carried by the mother, but about one-third of cases appear to be spontaneous mutations in the male's genes. Many mutations of the gene can cause DMD but only some common ones have been identified. Symptoms of DMD, which include fatigue, learning difficulties, muscle weakness and progressive difficulty walking, usually appear early in life around age 5.

DMD's gene inheritance map Diagnosis is primarily accomplished by DNA testing though a muscle biopsy test is sometimes required. If a pregnant woman has the genetic mutation that causes the disease, there is a 50% chance that a female child will inherit that mutation and that a male child will have DMD. Prenatal tests can determine if the fetus has one of the most common mutations that cause DMD.

Many sufferers lose the ability to walk by age 12 and spend the remainder of their lives in a wheelchair. Muscular deterioration leads to breathing difficulties and heart disease. The chest and back become deformed and the muscles of the extremities gradually contract.

Treatment includes respirators, drugs to assist heart function, and steroid drugs to slow the loss of muscle strength, but currently there is no known cure and death by age 25 is typical.

Caring for a DMD patient involves administering medications, supervising diet, assisting with elimination, moving him from bed to wheelchair and back, dressing him, and ensuring proper use of respiratory support as the disease progresses.

Medical research into DNA and drugs, physical therapy and daily patient care have improved the quality and even the duration of life for DMD sufferers. Researchers are also investigating the use of stem cell replacement and gene therapy to repair the muscular damage caused by genetic mutation. It remains to be seen if these approaches could result in a cure.

Picture from Muscular Dystrophy Association

Filed under Medicine, Science and Tech

Article by Judy Krueger

This "beyond the book article" relates to The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. It originally ran in September 2012 and has been updated for the May 2013 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Girls of Good Fortune
    by Kristina McMorris
    Brave the Shanghai tunnels in this tale of love, identity, and resilience passed through generations.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Erased
    by Anna Malaika Tubbs

    In Erased, Anna Malaika Tubbs recovers all that American patriarchy has tried to destroy.

  • Book Jacket

    Songs of Summer
    by Jane L. Rosen

    A young woman crashes a Fire Island wedding to find her birth mother—and gets more than she bargained for.

Who Said...

Children are not the people of tomorrow, but people today.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B a L

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.