The results of a survey on facioscapulohumeral myopathy (FSHD) carried out by the FSHD Society among 701 adult respondents highlighted :
- difficulties swallowing food at least once a week for 16% of them and the need, for 25%, to adapt the way they eat to get round these problems,
- constipation, bladder problems, abdominal pain, etc. for more than 25% of them,
- symptoms that increased as the disease progressed,
- there was no difference in the treatment of these disorders (diarrhoea, constipation, urinary incontinence, etc.) between patients and people without the disease.
The authors recommend that clinicians ask patients questions about swallowing, intestinal and urinary disorders, particularly if the disease is at an advanced stage, so that appropriate treatment can be put in place.
