MD is classified as a series of muscular disorders. Research shows that if MD is not treated, children lose the ability to walk by age 13. There are also respiratory and cardiac complications. Contractures also form at the hips, knees, ankles, wrists, and hands.

Motor Delays

Motor Delays and atypical gait are observed in individuals with MD between the ages of three adn five. Individuals with MD may have difficulty with movement, including running or getting up from the ground. They may also experience frequent falls and display toe-walking.

Respiratory Complications

Chronic respiratory insufficiency due to restrictive lung disease is expected in people with MD. Vital capacity increases until around the age of 10 and then starts to decrease at rates of between eight to 12 percent per year. For individuals with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy or Myotonic Dystrophy, respiratory muscle involvement is common.

Cardiac Involvement & Cardiomyopathy

Many forms of Muscular Dystrophy affect the heart in the form of cardiomyopathy and/or cardiac arrhythmias. Cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle where the muscle is abnormally enlarged, thickened, and/or stiffened) becomes evident at approximately the age of 10. Cardiomyopathy affects one-third of people with MD by approximately the age of 14.    People with MD over the age of 18 are all found to have Cardiomyopathy.

Scoliosis (Side-to-side (lateral) curvature of the spine)

Scoliosis develops in almost all children with DMD.

Pain and Fatigue

Individuals with MD also experience pain and fatigue.  A review of literature indicates that fatigue is a frequent complaint of people with MD, but fatigue in this regard is not well defined or studied.