Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is a genetically and clinically varied group of childhood and adult onset muscular dystrophies.  Symptoms include weakness and wasting of limbs, more proximal than distal.  Symptom onset and severity vary greatly.  Ten of the 15 known LGMD genes are autosomal recessive.  LGMD 21 is a variant of congenital MD.

Vissing, et. al.published a recent study in Neurology (2007)  68:59-61 which demonstrated that patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 21 (LGMD21) benefited from low to moderate endurance training using stationary bikes.  Improvements in physical performance and work capacity, without muscle problems,  were noted over the 3-month study period.  Participants exercised 30 minutes 5 days a week at 65% of maximum oxygen capacity.  Most of the benefit was gained in the first 3 months but was maintained over the year.  Previous studies had demonstrated that aerobic training was beneficial for other muscular dystrophies, such as myotonic dystrophy, mitochondrial myopathy and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy.  Low-moderate endurance training should be  conducted in controlled settings.  One of the limitations of this study is small sample size.

Aerobic exercise has also been shown to be effective in improving cognition and executive function in Alzheimer’s disease. Yu, et. al (2006) J. of Nursing Scholarship concluded  that  “specific cognitive domains such as executive functioning are important for understanding function in people with AD and are potentially modifiable by aerobic exercise”.