How have I inherited muscle disease?
Our cells carry several thousand genes, each of which instruct our bodies to produce a particular protein so that it can work properly. Most muscle disease results from a genetic fault which stops the body from producing the proteins that the muscle and nerves need to work properly. Our genes come in pairs and we inherit one copy from each parent.
In some conditions only one of the two inherited genes is faulty. Each child of the person affected has a 50% chance of inheriting the condition.
In other conditions, both genes inherited are faulty, which means the affected person has inherited an abnormal gene from each parent. His/her parents aren’t affected because they each have one normal gene. The children of a person with this inherited condition will probably inherit one normal gene from their other parent, and be unlikely to inherit it themselves.
Women have two X chromosomes, whereas men have one X and one Y. So boys with a disorder described as ‘X-linked’ usually inherit the faulty gene from their mother.
A woman carrying the faulty gene will usually have few or no problems herself, because she has one normal gene, but her son has a 50% chance of inheriting this faulty gene and developing the condition. Please see our free publications section for further details.
Alternatively, call us on 0800 652 6352 (freephone) or email info@muscular-dystrophy.org and speak to an advisor.
