myotonic muscular dystrophy

myotonic muscular dystrophy
    n 1: a severe form of muscular dystrophy marked by generalized
         weakness and muscular wasting that affects the face and
         feet and hands and neck; difficult speech and difficulty
         with the hands that spreads to the arms and shoulders and
         legs and hips; the onset can be any time from birth to
         middle age and the progression is slow; inheritance is
         autosomal dominant [syn: {myotonic muscular dystrophy},
         {myotonic dystrophy}, {myotonia atrophica}, {Steinert's
         disease}]