About OPMD

Opmd is a rare hereditary muscular dystrophy with onset usually in the mid forties to the mid fifties, although the abnormal gene is present from birth. The main symptoms are drooping of the eyelids (ptosis), and difficulty swallowing (dysphasia) - initially mainly dry and solid foods. Later fluids may prove difficult and this can include saliva. Care must be taken to avoid aspiration of food or saliva as this may lead to chest infections or pneumonia. Problems may also be experienced with fatigue, facial weakness, the voice, and the muscles of the shoulders and hips. Mobility may be affected.

Some surgery is available to alleviate the symptoms. Ptosis can be treated by a 'nip and tuck' operation on the eyelids, but increasingly a frontalis sling is available. This involves stitches in the eyelid, eyebrows, and forehead. The muscles of the forehead lift the eyelids. Dysphasia can be helped by dilation of the throat, or by a cricopharyngeal myotomy which involves cutting one of the throat muscles internally.

The heredity factor means that each child of an affected person has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder. Either sex can be affected: diagnosis is now usually by a blood test.

In the UK and the rest of Europe opmd is rare. It is much more common in Canada due to an affected family who emigrated from Poitou in France in the C17th. It spread widely in Canada, particularly in Quebec where it is reported to be 1 per 1000 of the population.