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The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an organization founded in 1950 which combats muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of genetics, hereditary muscle diseases that weaken the muscles that move the human body. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cell and biological tissue....
 and diseases of the nervous system
Nervous system

The nervous system is a Neural network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body....
 and muscular system
Muscular system

The muscular system is the anatomical system of a species that allows it to move. The muscular system in vertebrates is controlled through the nervous system, although some muscles can be completely autonomous....
 in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public.

Many celebrities assist the organization, including Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ....
, Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon

'Edward "Ed" Leo Peter McMahon, Jr.' is an United States comedian, game show host, announcer, and television personality most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's announcer on Who Do You Trust? from 1957 to 1962 and on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992, and as the host of the talent show St...
, Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron

Thomas "Tom" Bergeron is an United States television personality and game show host, best known to the public as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Hollywood Squares ....
, Jann Carl
Jann Carl

Jann Carl is a Los Angeles-based journalist and, since 1995, correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. She has also appeared on Candid Camera and America's Next Top Model....
, Ace Young
Ace Young

Brett Asa "Ace" Young is an American singer, Grammy Award-nominated songwriter and actor. He came to national recognition upon appearing on the American Idol of the popular reality television talent show, American Idol, although he was eliminated from the competition on April 19, 2006, finishing in seventh place....
, Billy Gilman
Billy Gilman

William "Billy" Wendell Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to chart a Top 40 hit on the country music charts....
, Alison Sweeney
Alison Sweeney

Alison Sweeney is an United States soap opera actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California, California.Sweeney is best known for her portrayal of Sami Brady on the American soap opera Days of our Lives....
, Maureen McGovern
Maureen McGovern

Maureen Therese McGovern is an United States singer and Broadway theatre actor, widely known for her premier rendition of the 1973 hit, "The Morning After"....
, Norm Crosby
Norm Crosby

Norm Crosby is a comedian sometimes associated with the Borscht Belt, but often seen on television in the 1970s. He is best known for his use of malapropisms, and is often called "The Master of Malaprop."...
 and many more. The MDA's national headquarters are in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, Arizona, United States, located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix, Arizona and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border....
.

MDA is most famous for the nationwide Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon is hosted by actor/comic, Jerry Lewis to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It has been held annually since 1960....
 it holds on Labor Day each year.






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Encyclopedia


The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an organization founded in 1950 which combats muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy refers to a group of genetics, hereditary muscle diseases that weaken the muscles that move the human body. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cell and biological tissue....
 and diseases of the nervous system
Nervous system

The nervous system is a Neural network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself. It processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body....
 and muscular system
Muscular system

The muscular system is the anatomical system of a species that allows it to move. The muscular system in vertebrates is controlled through the nervous system, although some muscles can be completely autonomous....
 in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public.

Many celebrities assist the organization, including Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ....
, Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon

'Edward "Ed" Leo Peter McMahon, Jr.' is an United States comedian, game show host, announcer, and television personality most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's announcer on Who Do You Trust? from 1957 to 1962 and on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992, and as the host of the talent show St...
, Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron

Thomas "Tom" Bergeron is an United States television personality and game show host, best known to the public as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos and Hollywood Squares ....
, Jann Carl
Jann Carl

Jann Carl is a Los Angeles-based journalist and, since 1995, correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. She has also appeared on Candid Camera and America's Next Top Model....
, Ace Young
Ace Young

Brett Asa "Ace" Young is an American singer, Grammy Award-nominated songwriter and actor. He came to national recognition upon appearing on the American Idol of the popular reality television talent show, American Idol, although he was eliminated from the competition on April 19, 2006, finishing in seventh place....
, Billy Gilman
Billy Gilman

William "Billy" Wendell Gilman III is an American country music artist. In 2000, at the age of 12, he debuted with the single "One Voice," a Top 20 hit on the Billboard country music charts and became the youngest singer to chart a Top 40 hit on the country music charts....
, Alison Sweeney
Alison Sweeney

Alison Sweeney is an United States soap opera actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California, California.Sweeney is best known for her portrayal of Sami Brady on the American soap opera Days of our Lives....
, Maureen McGovern
Maureen McGovern

Maureen Therese McGovern is an United States singer and Broadway theatre actor, widely known for her premier rendition of the 1973 hit, "The Morning After"....
, Norm Crosby
Norm Crosby

Norm Crosby is a comedian sometimes associated with the Borscht Belt, but often seen on television in the 1970s. He is best known for his use of malapropisms, and is often called "The Master of Malaprop."...
 and many more. The MDA's national headquarters are in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, Arizona, United States, located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix, Arizona and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border....
.

Overview

The MDA is most famous for the nationwide Telethon
Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon

The Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon is hosted by actor/comic, Jerry Lewis to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It has been held annually since 1960....
 it holds on Labor Day each year. Begun in 1966, it is hosted by actor/comic Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ....
, who has supported the MDA since its inception. Lewis's support has been so ironclad over the years that children and adults assisted by MDA are referred to as Jerry's Kids. In 2007, the annual Labor Day Telethon raised a record USD
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
$63.7 million. In 2005, the MDA made the unprecedented decision to pledge $1 million of the Telethon's money raised to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
 disaster relief, making the donation specifically to the Salvation Army
Salvation Army

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the Christian Church. It has a quasi-military structure and it was founded in 1865 in Great Britian as the East London Christian Mission by William Booth and Catherine Booth....
 (though the Telethon also urged viewers to give to the Red Cross).

The MDA targets the following muscular dystrophy diseases:
  1. Duchenne muscular dystrophy
    Duchenne muscular dystrophy

    Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a severe recessive Sex linkage form of muscular dystrophy characterized by rapid progression of muscle degeneration, eventually leading to loss in ambulation and death....
  2. Becker's muscular dystrophy
    Becker's muscular dystrophy

    Becker's muscular dystrophy is an X-linked recessive inherited disorder characterized by slowly progressive muscle weakness of the legs and pelvis....
  3. Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy
    Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy

    Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a condition that chiefly affects muscles used for movement and heart muscle.It is named after Alan Emery and Fritz E....
  4. Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy
    Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy

    Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy or Erb's muscular dystrophy is an autosomal class of muscular dystrophy that is similar but distinct from Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker's muscular dystrophy....
  5. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive, usually fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement....
It also targets the following:

  1. Infantile spinal muscular atrophy
  2. Juvenile, Intermediate, and Adult spinal muscular atrophy
    Spinal muscular atrophy

    Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a term applied to a number of different disorders, all having in common a Genetics cause and the manifestation of weakness due to loss of the motor neurons of the spinal cord and brainstem....
  3. Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy
    Kennedy disease

    Kennedy's disease or X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy is a neuromuscular disease associated with mutation of the androgen receptor ....
  4. Dermatomyositis
    Dermatomyositis

    Dermatomyositis is a connective-tissue disease related to Polymyositis that is characterized by inflammation of the muscles and the skin....
  5. Polymyositis
    Polymyositis

    Polymyositis is a type of chronic inflammatory myopathy, related to dermatomyositis and inclusion body myositis. Polymyositis means 'many muscle inflammation'....
  6. Inclusion body myositis
    Inclusion body myositis

    Sporadic inclusion body myositis is an inflammation muscle disease, characterized by slowly progressive weakness and wasting of both distal and proximal muscles, most apparent in the muscles of the arms and Human leg....
  7. Myasthenia gravis
    Myasthenia gravis

    Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disease leading to fluctuating muscle weakness and fatigue . It is an autoimmunity, in which weakness is caused by circulating antibody that block acetylcholine receptors at the post-synaptic neuromuscular junction, inhibiting the stimulative effect of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine....
  8. Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome
    Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome

    Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome is a rare autoimmune disorder which affects calcium channels of the nerve-muscle junction. The etiology of LEMS may resemble myasthenia gravis, but there are substantial differences between the clinical presentation and pathogenetic features of the two disorders....
  9. Congenital myasthenic syndrome
    Congenital myasthenic syndrome

    Congenital myasthenic syndrome is an inherited muscular disorder caused by genetic flaws at the neuromuscular junction. The effects of the disease are similar to Lambert-Eaton syndrome and Myasthenia gravis, the difference being that LEMS and MG are autoimmune disorders, but CMS is hereditary....
  10. Hyperthyroid myopathy
  11. Hypothyroid myopathy
  12. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
    Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

    Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease , known also as Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathy , Hereditary Sensorimotor Neuropathy , or Peroneal Muscular Atrophy, is a heterogeneous inherited disorder of nerves that is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation, predominantly in the feet and legs but also in the hands...
  13. Friedreich's ataxia
    Friedreich's ataxia

    Friedreich's ataxia is an inherited disease that causes Progressive illness to the nervous system resulting in symptoms ranging from gait disturbance and speech problems to heart disease....
  14. Dejerine-Sottas disease
  15. Myotonia congenita
    Myotonia congenita

    Myotonia congenita is a genetic, neuromuscular disorder characterized by the slow relaxation of the muscles. Symptoms may include muscle stiffness and hypertrophy ....
    , both Thomsen's and Becker's Disease
  16. Paramyotonia congenita
    Paramyotonia congenita

    Paramyotonia Congenita , also known as Paramyotonia congenita of von Eulenburg or Eulenburg disease, is a rare congenital autosomal dominant neuromuscular disorder characterized by ?paradoxical? myotonia....
  17. Central core disease
    Central core disease

    Central core disease is an autosomal dominant congenital myopathy . It was first described by Shy and Magee in 1956....
  18. Nemaline myopathy
    Nemaline myopathy

    Nemaline myopathy is a congenital, hereditary neuromuscular disorder that causes muscle weakness, generally nonprogressive, of varying severity....
  19. Myotubular myopathy (Centronuclear myopathy)
  20. Periodic paralysis
    Periodic paralysis

    Periodic paralysis is a group of rare genetic diseases that lead to weakness or paralysis from common triggers such as cold, heat, high carbohydrate meals, not eating, stress or excitement and physical activity of any kind....
    , both Hypokalemic and Hyperkalemic
  21. Mitochondrial myopathy
    Mitochondrial myopathy

    Mitochondrial myopathies are a type of myopathy associated with mitochondrial disease. On biopsy, the muscle tissue of patients with this disease category usually demonstrate 'ragged red' muscle fibers....
    , a mitochondrial disease
    Mitochondrial disease

    Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders relating to the mitochondrion, the organelles that are the "powerhouses" of the Eukaryote that compose higher-order life-forms ....


It also targets muscle diseases due to deficiencies in carnitine
Carnitine

Carnitine is a Quaternary ammonium cation biosynthesized from the amino acids lysine and methionine. In living cells, it is required for the transport of fatty acids from the cytosol into the mitochondria during the breakdown of lipids for the generation of metabolic energy....
 and the following enzyme
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
s:
  1. Phosphorylase
    Phosphorylase

    Phosphorylase is a family of Allosteric regulation enzymes that catalysis the production of polyglucose such as glycogen, starch or maltodextrin from a glucose-1-phosphate....
  2. Acid Maltase (Pompe's disease)
  3. Phosphofructokinase
    Phosphofructokinase

    Phosphofructokinase-1 is the most important regulatory enzyme of glycolysis. It is an allosteric enzyme made of 4 subunits and controlled by several activators and Enzyme inhibitors....
  4. Debrancher enzyme (also known as Amylo-1,6-glucosidase); a glycogen storage disease
    Glycogen storage disease

    Glycogen storage disease is any one of several inborn error of metabolism that result from enzyme defects that affect the processing of glycogen synthesis or breakdown within muscles, liver, and other cell types....
     also known as Forbes disease
  5. Carnitine palmityl transferase
  6. Phosphoglycerate kinase
    Phosphoglycerate kinase

    Phosphoglycerate kinase is a transferase enzyme used in the seventh step of glycolysis.It transfers a phosphate group from 1,3-biphosphoglycerate to Adenosine diphosphate, forming adenosine triphosphate and 3-Phosphoglycerate....
  7. Phosphoglycerate mutase
    Phosphoglycerate mutase

    OverviewPhosphoglycerate mutase is an enzyme that catalyzes step 8 of glycolysis. It catalyzes the internal transfer of a phosphate group from C-3 to C-2 which results in the conversion of 3-phosphoglycerate to 2-phosphoglycerate through a 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate intermediate....
  8. Lactate dehydrogenase
    Lactate dehydrogenase

    Lactate dehydrogenase is an enzyme present in a wide variety of organisms, including plants and animals....
  9. Myoadenylate deaminase


Better Business Bureau and Charity assessment of MDA

According to a Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau , founded in 1912, is not a government agency, but a network of local BBB organizations based in the United States and Canada, which work together through the Council of Better Business Bureaus ....
 summary released in February 2004:
  • The MDA oversees a network of 230 hospital-affiliated clinics providing diagnosis and treatment
  • In 2003, 4500 children and young adults, between the ages of 6 - 21, attended week-long summer camps sponsored by the MDA
  • Research and clinical trials on treatments for Lou Gehrig's disease
    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

    Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive, usually fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement....
     are conducted in 30 MDA/ALS centers
  • The MDA has a paid staff of 1353 people
  • Of the $166.5 million donated because of fund-raising activities (mostly its annual telethon
    Telethon

    A Examples...
    ), 17% of that was spent on the fund-raising activities themselves


Charity Navigator which is the largest independent evaluator of charities, gives MDA only two out of four stars for organizational efficiency and fiscal health.

Criticism

The MDA and Jerry Lewis have been criticized by disability rights
Disability rights movement

The disability rights movement aims to improve the quality of life of people with disability. For people with physical disabilities accessibility and safety are primary issues that this movement works to reform....
 activists for their tendency to paint disabled people as, these advocates say, "pitiable victims who want and need nothing more than a big charity to take care of or cure them." Critics argue that focusing the public's attention on medical cures to "normalize" disabled people fails to address issues like providing accessible buildings, transportation, employment opportunities and other civil rights for the disabled.

External links and sources

from the Better Business Bureau