Genetic Disease And Its Effects On The Body

Muscular dystrophy is a degenerating disease, in which the skeletal muscles degenerate, lose their strength, and cause increasing disability and deformity. Muscles attached to the bones through tendons are responsible for movement in the human body, however, in muscular dystrophy the muscles become progressively weak. As the muscle fibers

Affecting 1 in every 18,000 people, Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is a genetic disease that destroys the myelin sheath surrounding a brain neuron. A brain neuron is an essential cell body that is responsible for muscle contractions and ultimately, our ability to move. Adrenoleukodystrophy is a devastating genetic mutation that affects X-chromosomes in both males and females. However, because males only have one X-chromosome, the outcome is catastrophic.

Muscular dystrophy is an inherited disease that was discovered in 1861, by Guillaume B.A. Duchenne. Muscular dystrophy is a group of heredity disorders characterized by rapidly-worsening muscle weakness. The trait for muscular dystrophy may be transmitted as an autosomal dominant which means a disorder that has two copies of an abnormal gene that must be present in order for the disease or trait to develop. In this case, if some original carrier of the disease had children, the children would have a fifty-fifty chance of inheriting the disease. It is also carried as an autosomal recessive trait, in which case the offspring of the original carrier would have a very small chance of

According to Green (2014) the (DMD) gene for dystrophin, which is a protein that is present in muscles, is the second largest gene. A deficiency of dystrophin results in the damage of muscle fibres, resulting in a loss of muscle functioning. This disorder affects mainly the legs and pelvic region of the body. However it could also affect the heart, the respiratory system, as well as rarely the brain. Duchenne

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of the disorder and how genetics and biochemistry work together to create this

Autosomal dominant LGMD occur less often than recessive dominant LGMD. In the metabolism myotilin gene mutations occur, it may be due to a deficiency of vitamin B12, vitamin E, folate or exposures to nitrous oxide. LGMD 1A disease normally occurs from the age 42 to 77, and develops in the same areas (hip, shoulder and back) however, it could spread to the leg muscles. Due to the fact that myotilin gene is mutated, it causes focal myofibrillar destruction to occur, and this results in intracytoplasmic deposits to float around in the blood stream. In one case study done in Barcelona in 2011, there were 13 patients who were all diagnosed with myotilin gene mutation disease. The results showed that the deposits of myofibrillar became immune to myotilin and cluster up the vacuoles and interfere with the Z-lines. Overall the study revealed that each patient shared the same phenotypic characteristics, LGMD 1A and myofibrillar myopathy variations which emphasizes that LGMD is a developing neuromuscular disorder (Montse,

Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a genetic disorder caused by incorrect or missing genetic information that leads to the gradual weakening of the muscle cells. Various causes lead to weak and deteriorating muscles depending on the type of muscular dystrophy the patient was affected by. However, there are many causes for muscular dystrophy due to the fact that there are thirty forms of muscular dystrophy, which are categorized under several categories. All are ultimately caused by autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, sex-linked, and random mutations in very rare cases.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is caused by a mutated gene in the X chromosome. This flawed genes is passed on by the mother. However, most carrier of the gene do not show signs or symptoms of the disease. The The flawed gene causes the improper production of the protein dystrophin which is accompanied by “defective dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) in the sarcolemma and leads to progressive muscle degeneration” (Nakamura & Takeda, 2011). The Dystrophin protein is vital in providing a muscle integrity. Therefore, the absence of dystrophin production can lead to muscled atrophy.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common and fatal genetic disease currently in the United States, affecting roughly 30,000 Americans each year (National Human Genome Research Institute, 2013). CF is an autosomal inherited disease that adversely affects the mucus and it’s production throughout the entire body. Mucus is normally a slippery substance that lubricates and protects vital organs and body systems including the lining of airways, reproductive system and digestive systems. Patients who are diagnosed with CF actually have mucus that is abnormally sticky and thick, which places them at a high risk for severe pulmonary, digestive, and reproductive problems. Specifically regarding the pulmonary system CF patients often develop clogged airways, leading to bacterial infections and breathing abnormalities such as chronic coughing, wheezing, inflammation and lung damage. As a result of this recurrent and problematic, this places the patient at an increased risk for permanent lung damage and disease. Over time due to recurrent, chronic lung infections the characteristic of the lungs begin to change as more and more scar tissue develop making them fibrotic and develop cysts.

Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy, abbreviated MMD, is a disease that affects the muscles and organs of a body. To break Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy down, the word myotonic is the adjective for myotonia, which is an inability to relax muscles at will. Muscular dystrophy means the gradual muscle degeneration, which weakens and shrinks muscle tissue. Knowing the breakdown of MMD, this disease summed up means a person is restricted to relax their muscles at their own will whenever they would like ("Overview Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy"). MMD is also known as "Steinert Disease", which was named after a German doctor who first described the disorder in 1909 ("Facts About Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy").

The reading shows disease and inheritance in an entirely new light. It introduces the idea that genetically inherited diseases may have been selected for, which means that they must provide certain evolutionary advantages. It reorients the reader’s perspective about a disease like hemochromatosis, which has the potential to be incredibly harmful and even deadly, establishing that it may have once provided protection from the bubonic plague, making it an advantageous trait. This brings other genetic diseases into question, examining why diseases that appear to be harmful have not been eliminated from the gene pool. The idea that a disease that is harmful and dangerous in modern times could have once been a beneficial adaptation is very interesting.

For the genetic abnormality at the root of this disease, it is an X-linked inborn error of the glycosphingolipid metabolic pathway. Typically it is an X linked inheritance pattern that is neither recessive or dominant, and is x linked in this family history as well. The metabolic defect is in in the lysosomal hydrolase alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A), which catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of the terminal galactose from globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). This results in accumulation of globotriaosylceramide within lysosomes in cells, in the vascular

(1) DBQD1 has resulted from the mutation in calcium-activated nucleotidase 1 gene (CANT1). Actually, CANT1 codes an enzyme that is a part of the apyrase family and takes part in hydrolyzing UDP. In fact, UDP, GDP, and UTP are the substrates of CANT1 and play a role in the signaling pathways. (5) Bui et al. (2014) discovered other patients who suffered from DBQD2, carried missense or nonsense mutations of XYLT1. 3 This gene encodes Xylosyltransferase 1 is responsible for synthesizing the proteoglycan (PG). The structure of proteoglycan has been formed than a core protein with one or more glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains.

Living with a genetic or rare disease can impact the daily lives of patients and families. Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis is one of the many rare diseases that usually occur in approximately 1 in 100,000 people (Smart Engage, 2011). This disease is usually higher in Asian men whom also have thyroid problems. Just a note about why I chose this disease, was because I like watching a show named Hawthorne; and in one of the episodes an Asian mother and son had a disease that no one could figure out what it was. When I found out it was a genetic disease and had to do this paper I started to do some research. HOKPP is an autosomal dominant inheritance. This means that having a mutation in only one copy of one of the responsible genes in each cell

Known disease-associated mutations were retrieved from The Human Gene Mutation Database (http://www.hgmd.cf.ac.uk/ac/index.php). The benign polymorphisms were retrieved from the NCBI dbSNP (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/snp/) and previous literature. A variety of genes responsible for different lysosomal diseases were analyzed in this study and listed here. IDUA, mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I); IDS, MPS II; GLB1, GM1 gangliosidosis or Morquio disease, type B (MDB); HEXA, Tay-Sachs disease; HEXB, Sandhoff disease; GBA, Gaucher disease; CTNS, cystinosis; GAA, Pompe disease; GUSB, MPS VII; SGSH, MPS IIIA; LIPA, lysosomal acid lipase deficiency.