Muscular Dystrophy: Causes, Types, and Treatment

Dystrophin is a type of muscle protein that is basically responsible to strengthen the muscle and make it able to perform different functions. As dystrophin forms an important part of the muscular system, an absence of it may lead to impairment and unhealthy muscle tissue. Its absence can thus lead to reduced mobility overall. It is important to note that Muscular Dystrophy can affect individuals from different age groups and its severity may vary from individual to individual.

Symptoms of Muscular Dystrophy

Some of the symptoms of Muscular Dystrophy that you should know about are as follows:

• Weakening in muscle cells
• Trouble in walking
• Breakdown of skeletal muscles

Moreover, the symptoms also depend on the type of Muscular Dystrophy and may vary from one person to another.

Types of Muscular Dystrophy

Here are some of the types of Muscular Dystrophy that you should be aware of:

• Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Duchenne muscular dystrophy or DMD is a type of muscular dystrophy that mostly affects boys. Under Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, it is the upper legs and upper arms that are first affected. The symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy generally begin when a child starts walking and may get chronic gradually.
• Becker Muscular Dystrophy: Becker muscular dystrophy is where the distil limbs gradually start to weaken.
• Congenital Muscular Dystrophy: Congenital muscular dystrophy is where there are joint deformities and muscle weakness. In this, the muscle weakness can sometimes get severe resulting in damage to the brain and other systems.
• Distal Muscular Dystrophy: Distal muscular dystrophy typically affects people who are 20-60 years old. Individuals affected by this face weakness in calf muscles, however, this is not life-threatening.
• Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy: Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy is a health problem where an individual faces an inability in muscle contractions which therefore affects facial and neck muscles.

Treatment of Muscular Dystrophy

As of now, there is no treatment for muscular dystrophy. However, there are physical therapies that can be helpful in reducing the risk of muscular dystrophy. If the treatment of muscular dystrophy is not started at the right time, then there can be several complications ranging from scoliosis, heart problems, trouble walking, shortening of muscles, and more.

Is Muscular Dystrophy Covered in Health Insurance?

Muscular Dystrophy is covered under critical illness specific health insurance plans. If you buy a health insurance plan that does not cover critical illness, then unfortunately you will not get the coverage for muscular dystrophy. So, while buying a health insurance plan, you must check whether there is coverage for critical illness not. Buying a critical illness specific health insurance plan may seem expensive at that time, but it will surely be helpful if you are diagnosed with a critical illness at any point in your life.