Patient's question:
A 6-year-old boy with muscular dystrophy has unstable walking, difficulty getting up from a squat, and enlarged, hard calf muscles. His creatine kinase levels are high. After using Qiang Jiu Sheng Xue Fan Yuan Tang for 4 months, he feels much better, has more strength in walking, and his calf muscles have become much softer. He can run fast now. When can he stop taking the medicine?Doctor's answer:
There are many types of progressive muscular dystrophy. If a child has calf hypertrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy should be considered. This disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner across generations. Most patients are boys, while girls are rare. The inflammation primarily affects the pelvic girdle muscles, shoulder girdle muscles, and proximal muscle groups of the limbs, often accompanied by pseudohypertrophy of the calf muscles, deltoid muscles, and triceps muscles. Since this disease is caused by genetic factors, lifelong medication is generally required.