Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy (EDMD)

Researchers at the Psychology of Disability Lab at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor are exploring the social identity of people with disabilities through a short, anonymous, Web-based questionnaire.

The lab's Disability Identity Project is being headed by principal investigator Adena Rottenstein, a doctoral candidate in psychology.

The study closes the week of Aug. 22, 2011.

Idebenone may help maintain respiratory function in DMD

Santhera Pharmaceuticals announced May 9, 2011, that its drug Catena (generic name idebenone) appears to slow the decline in respiratory function associated with aging in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Idebenone may improve energy production in muscle and nerve cells.

Researchers at the University of Michigan are seeking 30 young adults, ages 18-29, who have had symptoms of certain forms of muscular dystrophy or myopathy since birth, to complete an online survey that asks about their perceived quality of life and level of independence.

The study also is recruiting 30 adults with no neuromuscular disease.

Results will be used to identify ways that counselors and therapists can address specific factors considered important by people with congenital muscle diseases (present at or near birth).

A new study reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that survival time has significantly increased for certain categories of people with muscular dystrophy (MD) but that race and cardiac status have a large impact on survival.

A study to determine the early features of late-onset Pompe disease (acid maltase deficiency) is seeking 250 adults who have a clinical diagnosis of unclassified limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), an uncertain diagnosis of other forms of muscular dystrophy (MD),or an unclassified myopathy(muscle disease)who do not carry any biochemical, metabolic, enzymatic, serologic (blood), molecular or pathologic diagnostic marker that confirms their diagnosis.

MDA has awarded 38 new research grants totaling more than $14 million and covering more than a dozen neuromuscular diseases. 

MDA's Board of Directors met in Los Angeles July 16, where it reviewed and approved the new grants based on recommendations from the MDA Scientific and Medical Advisory Committees. Grants were scored and recommended for approval based on the capabilities of the applicant, the scientific merit of the project, and the proposal's relevance to developing treatments for the disease. The effective start date for all grants was July 1, 2010.

What started out as an item on O'Connell's bucket list is now an almost nightly occurance: performing comedy on stage.

“So this woman comes up and tries to give me a dollar. I wanted to say, ‘Hey! Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean I’m homeless!’”

Scientists in the United States and Japan have identified a three-protein cluster that reseals damaged muscle-fiber membranes. The findings, published June 5, 2009, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, could have implications for development of treatments for muscular dystrophies.

In experiments in mice, Michael Rudnicki, an MDA grantee at the Sprott Center for Stem Cell Research at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), and colleagues, found the WNT7a protein stimulates muscle repair by causing proliferation (an increase in number) of "satellite stem cells." They say the protein probably operates similarly in humans. The findings were published June 5, 2009, in the journal Cell Stem Cell.