A rare group of inherited childhood diseases in which the myelin sheaths that form a protective covering around many nerves are destroyed. These diseases cause severely disabling conditions, such as impaired speech, blindness, deafness, and paralysis, and are always fatal.
Any disorder in which the structure and normal activity of cells within a tissue have been disrupted by inadequate nutrition. The usual cause is poor circulation of blood through the tissue, but dystrophy can also be due to nerve damage or deficiency of a specific enzyme in the tissue. Examples include muscular dystrophies and leukodystrophies. Corneal dystrophies, in which cells lining the cornea are damaged, are a rare cause of blindness.... dystrophy
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