Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a X-linked recessive disorder due to a mutation of the dystrophin gene (Xp21). Dystrophin is a sarcolemmal protein of skeletal and cardiac muscle, and its absence causes progressive muscle degeneration and substitution with fat and connective tissue. The progressive muscle degeneration leads to loss of autonomous walking before the age of 15 years and death for cardiac and/or respiratory failure. There are no specific treatment for DMD, and the standard of care is now based on long-term corticosteroid (CS) use. The studies on bone mass in DMD are very few, but they agree in reporting the presence of a reduced bone mass and an increased rate of fractures probably due to long-term steroid therapy and disuse-osteopenia. The aim of this study, involving 20 ambulant DMD boys (age 7-10 years) has been the evaluation of the effects of low-level mechanical vibrations on bone in a group of ambulant DMD children for 1 year, with RDA-adjusted dietary calcium intake and 25OH vitamin D supplementation.
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Change in bone mineral density at lumbar spine.
Timeframe: baseline and 12th month