"Dystrophy", originally from the Greek "dys", meaning "difficult" or "defective", and "trophy", meaning "food", contains the interpretation of "bad nutrition ". Today we know that poor diet is not the cause of muscular dystrophy (“myotonic dystrophy”). Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease that affects between 500 and 600 newborns each year in the United States (Statistics on Muscular Dystrophy). Typically, this disorder weakens your skeletal muscles and eventually degenerates. Muscular dystrophy also has several specific types within the disease, such as: Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, and myotonic dystrophy. Each has its own characteristics. Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder in which your muscles weaken significantly over time. Muscles are replaced by “connective tissue,” which is more fatty tissue than muscle. Connective tissue is the tissue commonly found in scars and this same tissue is unable to move. Although muscular dystrophy affects muscles in general, other types affect certain muscle groups and occur at different times of life. For example, one of the most common types, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, targets the muscles of the upper thigh and pelvis. The disease appears throughout early childhood, usually between the ages of four and seven. This genetic disease only occurs in boys. People have difficulty sitting or standing and lose their ability to walk in early adolescence. Unfortunately, most people die before the age of twenty. A second common type, Becker muscular dystrophy, affects the same muscles as Duchenne, but first appears during adolescence. Most people with Becker's disease only live into their forties (Fallon 1824-1825).My...... middle of paper......tonic_dystrophy.jsp>.“Myotonic dystrophy” . Human diseases and conditions. Ed. Neil Izenberg. Flight. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2000. Myotonic dystrophy. Yale University School of Medicine. 1998. Department of Neurology. February 14, 2009. <http://www.med.yale.edu/neurol/programs/neuromuscular/myontonic_dystrophy.html>.Research updates. University of Rochester Medical Center. November 10, 2008. National Institutes of Health. February 6, 2009. < http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/neurology/nih-registry/research/index.cfm>. Muscular dystrophy statistics by country. DEO. February 11, 2009. United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2009. < http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/m/musdys/stats-country.htm>. What is myotonic dystrophy?. Home reference on genetics. November 2006. US National Library of Medicine. February 9, 2009. < http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=myotonicdystrophy>.