Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Manual:
II B. Medical Investigations


When doctor Duchenne de Boulogne first described the peculiar symptoms of a group of boys he had singled out in 1868, symptoms were all that he had to go on. And that's the way it stayed for the next 100 years or so: the only way to tell DMD from other diseases was by tracking what happened and when. Things have improved since then. There now are a number of tests that can be run to narrow down the possibilities.

Should your child indeed undergo every test ever developed? That does not seem to make sense. Only those tests need to be done that will convince the doctor and you of the correctness of the diagnosis.

If your boy has not seen many doctors yet, the goings-on may be strange, and scary, and sometimes they do hurt. A lot depends on how you behave: kids seem to have an antenna for their parents' worried brain waves, but if you appear relaxed, chances are that he will be, too. On the other hand, if something is going to hurt a bit, you need to let him know in advance.


Go back to Home Page

Go to Next Section


This page hosted by Geocities Free Home Pages! 1
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws