Duchenne muscular dystrophy

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Muscular Dystrophy Can Be Diagnosed In Young Boys

Boys show signs of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) for 2 ½ years before they obtain a diagnosis and disease-specific treatment, about the same length of delay children have endured for the past 20 years despite advances in genetic testing and treatment. A simple and inexpensive blood test for any boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy symptoms and signs of motor delays and abnormalities could speed up the process while pilot studies on newborn screening are conducted.

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Darius Goes West Informs of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Darius Goes West, the most decorated film of 2007, will be shown on Monday, March 16, at the University of Delaware's Roselle Center for the Arts raising awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

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Protecting hearts of patients with muscular dystrophy

A team of researchers has recently shown that the administration of sildenafil protects the heart in mice with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Drug tested for preventing muscle fiber death in muscular dystrophy

An investigational antiviral drug currently undergoing human trials in Europe for treating Hepatitis C infections may have potential to reduce muscle cell damage in Duchenne and other forms of muscular dystrophy (MD).

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Long-term muscle improvements shown in gene therapy study in mice

Injecting a gene responsible for making a specific protein into a mouse that’s used as a model for muscular dystrophy can lead to long-term improvements in the animal’s muscle size and strength, a new study shows.

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New gene therapy strategy for muscle-wasting diseases

Investigators in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have identified the role of a protein that could potentially lead to new clinical treatments to combat musculoskeletal diseases, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

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Stem-cell transplantation improves muscles in MD animal model

Using embryonic stem cells from mice, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have prompted the growth of healthy – and more importantly, functioning – muscle cells in mice afflicted with a human model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Demonstration of muscle restoration in animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Using a new type of drug that targets a specific genetic defect, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, along with colleagues at PTC Therapeutics Inc. and the University of Massachusetts Medical School, have for the first time demonstrated restoration of muscle function in a mouse model of Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD).

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New therapeutic insight into duchenne muscular dystrophy

In the April 1st issue of Genes & Development, Dr. Bruce Spiegelman (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and colleagues identify a key genetic component of and possible therapeutic target for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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Inflammatory pathway leads to Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is characterized by progressive muscle wasting and usually results in death by the age of 30. Although mutations in the dystrophin gene cause DMD, they trigger persistent inflammation, which is probably what intensifies disease progression.

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Common Blood Pressure Drug Reduces Progressive Muscle Degeneration in Mice

Scientists supported in part by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) have found that that the commonly prescribed blood pressure medication losartan improves muscle regeneration and repair in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a devastating disease characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration in boys and young men.

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