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The muscles within the human body all have specific qualities, uniqueness and functions. We overuse and abuse our muscles daily. Almost everyone will experience some type of muscle pain or injury at some point in their life due to activity. Generally rest and anti-inflammatory medications are all that's needed to allow the muscle to heal. Diseases that affect the muscles are more serious than the minor injuries we sustain from time to time. There are a variety of muscle diseases ranging from myasthenia gravis to muscular dystrophy and these diseases affect both males and females and both young and old.

Muscle diseases can be classified in two ways: myopathies or neuropathies. Myopathies are those diseases that affect the muscle itself whereas neuropathies are those diseases that affect the nerves controlling the muscle. Muscular dystrophy is a type of myopathy. Even within this classification there are many sub-types but muscle degeneration and regeneration are part of all the muscular dystrophies.

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic or inherited disease. Symptoms of muscular dystrophy include weakness due to muscle wasting, poor balance, frequent falls, difficulty walking, calf pain, muscle spasms, droopy eyelids and difficulty breathing. Diagnosis of the various muscular dystrophies includes a muscle biopsy, a procedure in which a piece of muscle tissue is removed and examined microscopically for changes.

There is no cure for muscular dystrophy and the prognosis depends on the type of muscular dystrophy one has. There are also no treatments available for muscular dystrophy but physical therapy and orthopedic appliances can enhance the persons quality of life. Some of the different types of muscular dystrophy include Duchenne, Becker, limb girdle, congenital, facioscapulohumeral, myotonic, oculopharyngeal, distal, and Emery-Dreifuss. An excellent source for more information on muscular dystrophy is the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Their website is www.mda.org.

Another common muscle disease is myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis is a neuropathic disease meaning the defect is in the nervous system. In myasthenia gravis, the nerve impulse is not adequate in initiating or sustaining muscle movement. Myasthenia gravis occurs when the body begins to attack itself also known as an autoimmune disease. Symptoms of myasthenia gravis include double vision (often the first symptom), drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing, difficulty rising from a seated position without

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