Families with members who have either Duchenne's or Becker's muscular dystrophy are advised to consult a genetic counselor for help in evaluating the risk of passing the muscular dystrophy trait on to their children. Several much less common forms of muscular dystrophy, all inherited, also cause progressive muscle weakness. The facial and shoulder muscles are always affected, so that a person has difficulty raising the arms, whistling, or closing the eyes tightly. The weakness of Landouzy-Dejerine muscular dystrophy is rarely severe, and people who have this disease have a normal life expectancy. These inherited diseases usually don't appear until adulthood and rarely produce serious weakness.
Mitochondria carry their own genes.
Because sperm don't contribute mitochondria during fertilization, all mitochondrial genes come from the mother. Therefore, these diseases can never be inherited from the father. Diagnosis Diagnosis requires taking a sample of the weak muscle tissue for biopsy and either examining it under a microscope or performing chemical tests on it. However, because specific treatments aren't available, a precise diagnosis of these less common forms of muscular dystrophy is rarely useful. The disorder produces both weakness and tight, contracted muscles, especially in the hands.