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What Is a Neuromuscular Disorder?

People like Dan have neuromuscular disorders (NMDs), and daily tasks and activities may at times be a struggle for them. If you or someone you know is in that situation, learning as much as possible about the particular type of disorder will help you find the best ways to approach life’s challenges. It will help you to understand what’s going on in the affected parts of the body, what has caused this change, and what the future holds. Neuromuscular disorders include a wide range of conditions in which nerves fail to give correct signals to one or more of the body’s muscle groups. Dozens of different neuromuscular disorders have been recognized and described by medical researchers. Each one causes its own pattern of movement problems because of the nerves and muscles involved. Of these disorders, muscular dystrophy (MD) occurs most often. Muscular dystrophy itself is an umbrella term for more than thirty distinct genetic diseases. Of these, the most common type is Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). All neuromuscular disorders, even DMD, are rare conditions. Approximately 1 out of every 35,000 boys born worldwide will have some type of MD. The conditions occur even less frequently for girls, who very rarely acquire DMD. However, girls are subject to other types of NMDs. Each type of neuromuscular disease, including MD, is a genetic disease caused by a gene mutation . NMDs are not contagious, so a person with MD cannot transmit the disorder to another person—except from a parent to a child through the parent’s genes. Genetics and MD The muscle problems that come with muscular dystrophy are caused by an accidental, random event called a mutation, which changes the functioning of a gene that controls that particular muscle or muscle group. The mutation disrupts the way the gene normally sends signals to the muscle. This damage can occur

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