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Can muscular dystrophy be prevented?

Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder and may be present in genes without parents realising it. For example, women may be carriers but be asymptomatic. The genes that cause it, may be recessive – in other words, they may skip one or more generations.

It can only be successfully prevented if all the genetic information about parents, such as family medical history, is available to the medical practitioner. This can partly be obtained through tests, and partly through genetic counselling.

The most common form, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, can be detected through genetic studies during pregnancy, allowing the parents to decide whether to continue with the pregnancy or terminate on medical grounds.
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