What do I need to know about understanding what is happening to people with dmd

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease caused by infection of the X-Chromosome. Males have only one copy of the X chromosome from their mother and one copy of the Y chromosome from their father. If their X chromosome has a DMD gene mutation, they will have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Females have two copies of the X chromosomes. Since females have two copies of this gene, if one copy does not work, they have a second back up copy to produce the dystrophin protein. People with Duchenne muscular dystrophy do not make the dystrophin protein in their muscles. DMD affects the muscles, leading to muscle wasting that gets worse over time.