Stem Cell Therapy

What is Muscular Dystrophy?:

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. Over time, this muscle weakness decreases mobility and makes ordinary tasks difficult, and eventually impossible.

There are many types muscular dystrophy. Different types of MD affect specific  muscles, affect different age groups, vary in the level of severity, and are caused by mutations in many different genes, which makes it difficult to understand.

Since muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder, it can run in families. 

The most common types of muscular dystrophy include Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and Becker Muscular Dystrophy (BMD) which disrupt the gene responsible for producing Dystrophin, a necessary protein in muscle structure.

Application:

While no treatment or cure with stem cells currently exists, many research studies have shown promise for potential future therapies. 

It is hopes that stem cells can be used to produce healthy (without the harmful mutation) muscle fibres to replace damaged ones and reduce muscle inflammation, which in turn slows the degeneration of muscles.

Video Source: MV-1

Sources: M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5

Image Source: MI-2

Image Source: MI-1