Gene therapy

[prekshak]

My cousin is suffering from muscular dystrophy for long time.Is any research/clinical trials going on anywhere for
re-generation of muscle(lost in the disease)by means of gene therapy?

[caregiver222]

Singapore, curiously enough, seems to be a place where there are very innovative ttrials being conducted using stem cells. They have attracted some top-shelf physicians from every country in the world. I don't believe there have been any breakthroughs for MS, but you might want to contact their stem cell center for a current update.

[ggreg]

Yes, there are clinical trials for muscular dystrophy going on.  There are various muscular dystrophy websites where all they do is research and devise new ways of curing and treating MD, to include lists of trials, and also links to those trials.  Some kinds of MD are inherited, those young adult men get this in their teens and the gene is passed from the mother.  So, there is a genetic component for some kinds of MD.

I had a dear friend who had it, so I should say you should make sure your cousin is always in good health by making him go to a good general doctor on a regular basis, becuz sometimes muscular dystrophy is not what takes the lives of people who have it, rather it is other physical problems that arise in the normal populations, that can be missed because everyone is so focused on the MD.  

But to find those websites, do a general online search with the words "muscular dystrophy" or "MD trials" or "MDA," and you can find out more about the genetic research situation.  And at some of those websites, particularly if you can find a government website for it, they will give clinical trials going on for people who have MD.