Home > Muscular Dystrophy Association
Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is a U.S. organization founded in 1950 which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public.MDA targets the following muscular dystrophy diseases:
- Duchenne muscular dystrophy
- Becker's muscular dystrophy
- Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy
- Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy
- Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
- Myotonic dystrophy
- Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy
- Distal muscular dystrophy
- Congenital muscular dystrophy
It also targets the following:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Infantile spinal muscular atrophy
- Juvenile, Intermediate, and Adult spinal muscular atrophy
- Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy
- Dermatomyositis
- Polymyositis
- Inclusion body myositis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndromeLambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS) is a rare disorder of nerve-muscle (neuromuscular) junction. Both the etiology and the clinical findings of the disease may resemble myasthenia gravis, but there are many substantial differences between clinical pr
- Congenital myasthenic syndrome
- Hyperthyroid myopathy
- Hypothyroid myopathy
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth diseaseCharcot-Marie-Tooth disease is an inherited disorder of nerves (neuropathy) that is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation, predominantly in the feet and legs but also in the hands and arms in the advanced stages of disease. The diseas
- Friedreich's ataxia
- Dejerine-Sottas disease
- Myotonia congenita , both Thomsen's and Becker's Disease
- Paramyotonia congenita
- Central core disease
- Nemaline myopathy
- Myotubular myopathy
- Periodic paralysis , both Hypokalemic and Hyperkalemic
- Mitochondrial myopathy , a mitochondrial diseaseMitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders relating to the mitochondria, the organelles that are the "powerhouses" of the eukaryotic cells that comprise higher-order lifeforms (including humans). The mitochondria convert the energy of food molecules
It also targets muscle diseases due to deficiencies in carnitineCarnitine is an amino acid responsible for transport of fatty acids into a cell's mitochondria. It is often sold as a nutritional supplement. As with all amino acids used directly in the metabolism, carnitine exists in the left-handed form. This isomer is and the following enzymeAn enzyme is a protein, or protein complex, that catalyzes a chemical reaction. Like any catalyst, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy of a reaction, thus allowing the reaction to proceed to its steady state or completion much faster than it ots:
- PhosphorylaseAn enzyme that catalyzes the production of glucose phosphate from glycogen and inorganic phosphate.
- Acid Maltase ( Pompe's diseasePompe's disease is a type II glycogen storage disease. Death usually occurs by age 2. Eponymous diseases.)
- PhosphofructokinasePhosphofructokinase (PFK) is the most important regulatory enzyme ( EC 2. 105) of glycolysis. It is an allosteric enzyme made of 4 subunits and controlled by several activators and inhibitors. This leads to a precise control of glucose and the other monos
- Debrancher enzyme (also known as Amylo-1,6-glucosidase ); a glycogen storage disease also known as Forbes disease
- Carnitine palmityl transferase
- Phosphoglycerate kinase
- Phosphoglycerate mutase
- Lactate dehydrogenase
- Myoadenylate deaminase
MDA's national headquarters are in Tucson, Arizona. Its most visible fundraising event is the " Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon" held every Labor Day weekend since 1966.
