Oldest person living with Duchenne hoping to be inspiration to youngsters

It is believed that no-one with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is currently alive in the UK older than Nadeem Akram, who turned 55 this week. Jonathon Hill reports

- Jonathon Hill reports

A MAN who is the oldest person in the UK living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy says he hopes he can be an inspiration to youngsters who have been diagnosed with the condition.

Duchenne, an inherited condition, is a progressive neuromuscular disorder resulting in the slow deterioration of the body’s muscles.

‘The condition starts from a very young age - usually between the ages of two and three - and initially affects the shoulder and upper arm muscles and the muscles of the hips and thighs before weakening the limbs and extremities.

According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association the life expectancy for those with the condition, caused by a mutation of the DMD gene, could now be in the thirties and forties due to continued advancements in treatments to prolong life despite there being no known cure.

But it's understood that no-one with the condition is currently alive in the UK older than Nadeem Akram, from Cyncoed, Cardiff, who turns 55 this week.

When Nadeem was a child his grandmother discovered that he probably had the inherited condition when she felt his legs while bathing him. She had come across the condition before because her sons died young with it.

Nadeem's sister, Nazia Akram, told of how her brother's calves had “almost calcified and become solid”. He was later diagnosed with the condition and from a young age he was in a wheelchair and his muscles deteriorated quickly.