Muscular dystrophy causes the muscles in the body to become very weak.
The muscles break down and are replaced with fatty deposits over time. Some forms of MD first appear in infancy or early to late childhood, while others may not appear until adolescence, middle-age, or later. Muscular dystrophy rarely affects girls, but when it does, the condition is normally not as severe. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease which means it is inherited. Our genes determine our traits, such as eye color and blood type.