Semi OT - Muscular Dystrophy vs Multiple Sclerosis

There are a couple threads going that are talking about MS & MD and as frequently happens, there is some confusion. I have a Muscular Dystrophy (we haven't figured out which one I have yet) where as another poster here has Multiple Sclerosis.

I went to Mayo's website and pulled their descriptions of the diseases. They are a little more simplistic than I was hoping, but do explain the diseases.

Muscular dystrophy(MD) is a group of inherited muscle diseases in which muscle fibers are unusually susceptible to damage. Muscles, primarily voluntary muscles, become progressively weaker. In the late stages of muscular dystrophy, fat and connective tissue often replace muscle fibers. Some types of muscular dystrophy affect heart muscles, other involuntary muscles and other organs.

The most common types of muscular dystrophy appear to be due to a genetic deficiency of the muscle protein dystrophin.

There's no cure for muscular dystrophy, but medications and therapy can slow the course of the disease.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially debilitating disease in which your body's immune system eats away at the protective sheath that covers your nerves. This interferes with the communication between your brain and the rest of your body. Ultimately, this may result in deterioration of the nerves themselves, a process that's not reversible.

Symptoms vary widely, depending on the amount of damage and which nerves are affected. People with severe cases of multiple sclerosis may lose the ability to walk or speak. Multiple sclerosis can be difficult to diagnose early in the course of the disease because symptoms often come and go — sometimes disappearing for months.

There's no cure for multiple sclerosis. However treatments can help treat attacks, modify the course of the disease and treat symptoms.

Thanks for that, Maddie. I've noted the confusion on the forum between the two diseases, myself.

I have to ask, although it's a pretty much a rhetorical question: In all the years that Jerry Lewis has been raising millions with his telethons to find a cure for MD, has there been any real progress in that regard? I've been asking myself where all that money goes, year after year, because I never hear of any advancements being made.

BleepingBeauty wrote:Thanks for that, Maddie. I've noted the confusion on the forum between the two diseases, myself.

I have to ask, although it's a pretty much a rhetorical question: In all the years that Jerry Lewis has been raising millions with his telethons to find a cure for MD, has there been any real progress in that regard? I've been asking myself where all that money goes, year after year, because I never hear of any advancements being made.

I think there are significant advances, but we don't always hear about them.

I made the comment to one of my neurologists that I did NOT think anything helpful would be available in my lifetime. He strongly DISAGREED saying that advances ARE being made and he felt help would be available at some point that I could benefit from...

I try to never miss out on an opportunity to display my ignorance of a topic...

It is my understanding that ALS and MD are somewhat related. Not the same, but related. There is some excitement over a new drug undergoing clinical trials that seemed to resolve ALS symptoms with a single dose in one individual. If that result continues with several people, and if the drug is found to be "safe," and if it gets FDA approval, and if it is affordable, and if there are similar things going on in MD as in ALS, there may be some good news in the next couple of years.

A lot of "ifs" but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.

Madalot wrote:

BleepingBeauty wrote:Thanks for that, Maddie. I've noted the confusion on the forum between the two diseases, myself.

I have to ask, although it's a pretty much a rhetorical question: In all the years that Jerry Lewis has been raising millions with his telethons to find a cure for MD, has there been any real progress in that regard? I've been asking myself where all that money goes, year after year, because I never hear of any advancements being made.

I think there are significant advances, but we don't always hear about them.

I made the comment to one of my neurologists that I did NOT think anything helpful would be available in my lifetime. He strongly DISAGREED saying that advances ARE being made and he felt help would be available at some point that I could benefit from...

Well, that's good to hear. Coming from someone in the field, that's reassuring.

HoseCrusher wrote:I try to never miss out on an opportunity to display my ignorance of a topic...

It is my understanding that ALS and MD are somewhat related. Not the same, but related. There is some excitement over a new drug undergoing clinical trials that seemed to resolve ALS symptoms with a single dose in one individual. If that result continues with several people, and if the drug is found to be "safe," and if it gets FDA approval, and if it is affordable, and if there are similar things going on in MD as in ALS, there may be some good news in the next couple of years.

A lot of "ifs" but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope there IS something on the horizon, but I'm always extremely cautious of any new "wonder drug" that hits the market. Almost invariably, years after FDA approval, we hear about all the bad side effects and/or other problems that the "cure" is responsible for. It's not surprising why every other commercial on tv is for yet another medical malpractice attorney. "Have you been injured by...?"

I agree.

However, I was recently informed that with ALS the average person is dead within 3 years of getting a diagnosis. In that amount of time, I am not sure the side effects will be well studied until they find a way to help people live a little longer. What a choice... side effects that may damage your body over time, or dead in 3 years.

Nobody should have to face a decision like that and I hope all the research pans out.

Both ALS and MS involve destruction of myelin sheaths that "insulate" the axons of neurons.

In ALS the demyelinaion is located in the spinal cord columns of motor neurons coming from the cortex. The result is weakness and eventual paralysis with other neurological functions preserved. Eventually death results from respiratory impairment, bedsores and so on.

In MS, the foci of demyelination can be anywhere in the nervous system, brain or spinal cord. Any neurological symptom is possible, depending on location.

If there were some way of protecting myelin, it could well help both.