Signs and Symptoms

The symptoms and signs of different neuromuscular disorders vary in many ways, including which muscles are chiefly involved.  Every disorder is unique, and the severity of the symptoms, the age at which the symptoms appear, how fast the symptoms progress and what pattern of inheritance the disorder follows are all factors which differ between the various forms of muscular dystrophy.

Muscle weakness arises in different areas of the body depending on the particular type of muscular dystrophy; therefore, physical changes vary from disorder to disorder. Typically, muscle weakness is evident as the child loses the ability to walk, sit upright, breathe easily, and move their arms and hands. It primarily affects the muscles of the legs, pelvis, shoulders, back, arms, hands, and face. For instance, children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy will display enlarged calf muscles and soon lose the ability to walk. Because the pelvic muscles are usually the first to be affected in these children, the child may begin to stumble more frequently and display a waddling gait. They then may have difficulty going up stairs, difficulty walking, and eventually develop a severe forward and then sideways curvature of the spine.

For more information about breathing, including strategies for preventative airway management, please refer to our Guide to Neuromuscular Disorders.