Myopathy News and Research
The myopathies are neuromuscular disorders in which the primary symptom is muscle weakness due to dysfunction of muscle fiber. Other symptoms of myopathy can include include muscle cramps, stiffness, and spasm. Myopathies can be inherited (such as the muscular dystrophies) or acquired (such as common muscle cramps).
Genetic testing underutilized in patients with cardiomyopathies and arrhythmias, study says
Heart failure and arrhythmia conditions are often considered as separate disorders, but genetic testing suggests there is much more overlap of these disorders than previously appreciated.
Study offers renewed hope for children suffering from myofibrillar myopathies
Stephen Greenspan and Laura Zah were devastated when they learned their son Alexander had a rare genetic mutation, which causes a deadly neuromuscular disease with no known treatment or cure.
Study reveals molecular mechanism that regulates filament-like proteins in heart muscles
Heart muscle cells contain filament-like proteins that should have the same precise length, so that they can perfectly synchronize.
Study explains why human mitochondrial genomes mutate frequently
One could say that mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles inside every human cell, dance to their own beat.
New study outlines the mechanisms behind cell fusion
Scientists have known for a decade that cells that fuse with others to perform their essential functions - such as muscle cells that join together to make fibers - form long projections that invade the territory of their fusion partners.
Patients with chronic myopathy can benefit from cell-aging drug and exercise
According to a researcher from Hokkaido University and collaborators from Japan-based Sapporo Medical University, exercise can boost strength in muscle-degenerating disorders only when aging occurs in a certain type of muscle cell.