Question

With muscular dystrophy, ________?

1) muscles decrease in size due to loss of fat and connective tissue
2) muscle fibers degenerate and atrophy
3) most forms do not appear to be inherited
4) most cases appear in young females

Answer 1

Muscular dystrophy causes muscle fibers to degenerate and atrophy, often due to inherited genetic mutations like in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which predominantly affects young males.

Step-by-step explanation:

With muscular dystrophy, muscle fibers degenerate and atrophy. Muscular dystrophy is a group of genetic disorders characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness and the death of muscle cells and tissues. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a type of muscular dystrophy caused by a lack of the protein dystrophin, which is crucial for muscle function. In DMD, defective proteins in muscle cells lead to damage during muscle contractions. Over time, this results in the loss of muscle mass and an increase in functional impairments. While there are various forms of muscular dystrophy, most of them, including DMD, appear to be inherited, and DMD in particular affects mainly young males due to its X-linked recessive inheritance pattern.