Types of therapies for muscular dystrophy

You may be offered a number of different therapies to help you function in your everyday life.

• Speech Therapy - This treatment can help in the later stages of muscular dystrophy if weak muscles are making speaking or swallowing difficult for you.

• Physical Therapy - Physical therapy programs can help you remain mobile, stretch your tight muscles, and ensure that you do not damage your joints. You may also learn ways to limit your energy use so that you do not become overtired.

• Occupational Therapy - This therapy can help you cope with everyday activities. You will learn to use adaptations in your home and special equipment to help you carry out essential tasks. An occupational therapist will also assess your need for mobility aids such as wheelchairs and scooters.

• Recreational Therapy - This type of therapy focuses on helping you to take part in educational and leisure activities.

Hope for Muscular Dystrophy Patients

Harnessing gene helps repair muscle damage

Researchers have successfully improved the ability of muscle to repair itself -- by artificially increasing levels of the BMI1 gene in the muscle-specific stem cells of mice with muscular dystrophy.
The BMI1 gene has been previously linked to the body's ability to regenerate tissue cells in areas such as blood or skin.

Led by Queen Mary University of London and published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the study provides the first proof of concept that manipulating the activity of this gene enhances the regeneration of the dystrophic muscle to a level where strength is visibly improved. For example, the mice were able to run on a treadmill for a longer time period and at a faster pace.

This line of research will now be further developed and scientists aim to one day apply the treatment to patients with chronic muscle wasting such as muscular dystrophy.

Muscular dystrophy is a devastating and incurable condition. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy -- the deadliest form of the muscle-wasting disease -- is caused by mutations in a gene which eventually cause muscle fibres to become damaged and waste away.

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is characterised by repeated cycles of muscle damage and repair, resulting in exhaustion of the muscle repair cells. It affects one in 3,500 boys and normally proves fatal by early adulthood.

Professor Silvia Marino, Lead Author, Queen Mary University of London, comments: "This study has given us the first 'proof of concept' that harnessing the gene BMI1 can significantly enhance the regeneration of dystrophic muscles to a level where strength is visibly improved. We plan to continue our research and hope to establish whether this concept can be successfully applied to patients with muscular dystrophy, but possibly other degenerative conditions or even traumatic muscle damage."

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Queen Mary, University of London. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. V. Di Foggia, X. Zhang, D. Licastro, M. F. M. Gerli, R. Phadke, F. Muntoni, P. Mourikis, S. Tajbakhsh, M. Ellis, L. C. Greaves, R. W. Taylor, G. Cossu, L. G. Robson, S. Marino. Bmi1 enhances skeletal muscle regeneration through MT1-mediated oxidative stress protection in a mouse model of dystrophinopathy. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2014; 211 (13): 2617 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20140317

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Queen Mary, University of London. "Hope for muscular dystrophy patients: Harnessing gene helps repair muscle damage." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 January 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150115102839.htm>.