dystrophy
/ˈdɪstrəfi
/noun [mass noun] Medicine & Veterinary Medicine
A disorder in which an organ or tissue of the body wastes away: myotonic dystrophy [count noun]: macular dystrophies damage the central portion of the retina...See also muscular dystrophy.
- Fuchs' dystrophy is an inherited disease that affects the cornea - the transparent front surface of your eye.
- The key breakthroughs in the mitochondrial disorders and Duchenne dystrophy had all been made by the early '90s, and yet a decade later, no effective treatments have yet emerged.
- Muscular dystrophies are genetic disorders, usually progressive, which can lead to profound paralysis.
Origin
Late 19th century: from modern Latin dystrophia, from Greek dus- 'bad' + -trophia 'nourishment'.