Why is Muscular Dystrophy a Neurological Disorder?I'm doing some research for neurological (nervous system) disorders, and one of them is Muscular Dystrophy. But this disease affects muscles... I can't find where or why it's considered a nervous system disorder. Any ideas? (this is for a Grade 12 biology class by the way)
Posted by Techwing
Muscular dystrophy is a group of disorders that have degeneration of the muscles as a common symptom. The most common disease of the group, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is almost entirely a disease of muscular degeneration. They are not primarily neurological disorders, although some of them have important neurological manifestations (e.g., myasthenia gravis).
Posted by Nisa
At first I was stumped as well, but then I found the answer. The term neurological disorder is misleading in that it makes us think that only the nervous system should be affected, and since muscles are not a part of the nervous system, it would not count. However, neurological disorders affect "the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue, such as muscle."
Since muscle is included with the problems associated with the nervous system as a whole, it would count as a neurological disorder as well. I hope this helps some.
Orignal From: Why is Muscular Dystrophy a Neurological Disorder?
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