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Studies with patients

Table of Contents (click to jump to sections)

Is there any treatment?
MJD is incurable, but some symptoms of the disease can be treated. For those patients who show parkinsonian features, levodopa therapy can help for many years. Treatment with antispasmodic drugs, such as baclofen, can help reduce spasticity. Physiotherapy can help patients cope with disability associated with gait problems, and physical aids, such as walkers and wheelchairs, can assist the patient with everyday activities. Other problems, such as sleep disturbances, cramps, and urinary dysfunction, can be treated with medications and medical care.

What is the prognosis?
The severity of the disease is related to the age of onset, with earlier onset associated with a more severe form of the disease. Symptoms can begin any time between early adolescence and about 70 years of age. MJD is also a progressive disease, meaning that symptoms get worse with time. Life expectancy ranges from the mid-thirties for those with severe forms of MJD to a normal life expectancy for those with mild forms. For those who die early from the disease, the cause of death is often aspiration pneumonia.

What research is being done?
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supports research on MJD and other neurodegenerative diseases in an effort to learn how to better treat, prevent, and even cure these diseases. Ongoing research includes efforts to better understand the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms that underlie triplet repeat diseases. Other research areas include the development of novel therapies to treat the symptoms of MJD, efforts to identify diagnostic markers and to improve current diagnostic procedures for the disease, and population studies to identify affected families.