With this condition, the muscles also become weak and waste away.
Myotonic dystrophy can cause mental deficiency, hair loss and cataracts.
Onset of this rare disorder commonly occurs during young adulthood. However, it can occur at any age and is extremely variable in degree of severity. The myotonic dystrophy gene, found on chromosome 19, codes for a protein kinase that is found in skeletal muscle, where it likely plays a regulatory role. An unusual feature of this illness is that its symptoms usually become more severe with each successive generation.