Funding for muscle-wasting condition

1 November 2013 Last updated at 09:20 ET By Marianne Taylor BBC Scotland news

Families of children with a devastating muscle-wasting condition have welcomed funding for a new medical expert.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects about 200 children and young people in Scotland, is incurable and causes severe disability.

A shortage of experts makes it difficult for potential new treatments to reach those with the condition.

Parents said the funding would help their children lead more fulfilling lives.

We need to ensure any treatments developed by scientists make it to the people who desperately need them

Duchenne, which mostly affects boys, causes muscles to weaken and waste over time, leading to increasing and severe disability.

Few born with the condition - which affects about one in 3,600 boys - currently live to the age of 30 due to damage to heart and breathing muscles.

A new funding partnership between the Chief Scientist Office and charities Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and Action Duchenne, will provide 75,000 a year for three years for a medical training fellow to research potential treatments and work directly with children.

It is hoped the new expert will be in post by autumn 2014.

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Funding for muscle-wasting condition