Adding exercise to a genetic treatment for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) was more effective at reversing fatigue than administering the treatment alone in a study using a mouse model of the disease. In fact, exercise alone provided some benefit whereas the genetic treatment alone did not. This study, carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and collaborators, has implications for patients who experience fatigue due to genetics-related musculoskeletal diseases as well as other types of illness-induced fatigue. The study appears in Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids.
It’s encouraging that exercise makes a noticeable difference on its own and in combination with a genetic treatment specifically tailored for the disease.”
Thurman M. Wheeler, MD, Investigator, Department of Neurology at MGH and at Harvard Medical School
Wheeler was the senior author of the study.
DM1 is the most common muscular dystrophy in adults,