The Universitat de València joins the celebration of the International Myotonic Dystrophy Awareness Day, held on 15th September. The academic institution thus wishes to contribute to the visibility of this ailment and to support all research initiatives and the transfer of research results that will allow progress to be made in its knowledge and cure.
Myotonic dystrophy is a relatively common neuromuscular disease – it is thought to affect at least 1 in 8,000 people worldwide. Myotonic dystrophies are multisystem disorders, i.e. they do not only affect the muscles (causing progressive muscle weakness and fatigue) but affect many organs and body systems such as the brain and the heart, where malignant arrhythmias can occur. The genetic mutation that causes the condition is present at birth, but symptoms can appear at any age.
An awareness campaign will be launched on 15th September via social media to raise awareness of the disease. In addition, several audiovisual resources have been developed, and the institutions and research groups working on it will be made visible by celebrating this international day.
The Universitat de València has been committed for more than 20 years to the study of myotonic dystrophy through the Translational Genomics group of the University Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (BIOTECMED), which is an international reference in this field.
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