NINDS Machado-Joseph Disease Information Page

MJD is incurable, but some symptoms of the disease can be treated. For those individuals who show parkinsonian features, levodopa therapy can help for many years. Treatment with antispasmodic drugs, such as baclofen, can help reduce spasticity. Botulinum toxin can also treat severe spasticity as well as some symptoms of dystonia. Speech problems and trouble swallowing can be treated with medication and speech therapy.  Physiotherapy can help patients cope with disability associated with gait problems.  Physical aids, such as walkers and wheelchairs, can assist with everyday activities.

The severity of the disease is related to the age of onset, with earlier onset associated with more severe forms of the disease. Symptoms can begin any time between early adolescence and about 70 years of age. MJD is a progressive disease, meaning that symptoms get worse with time. Life expectancy ranges from the mid-thirties for those with severe forms of MJD to a normal life expectancy for those with mild forms.   The cause of death for those who die early is often aspiration pneumonia.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducts MJD research in its laboratories at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and also supports MJD research through grants to major medical institutions across the country.  Ongoing research includes studies to better understand the genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms that underlie inherited neurodegenerative diseases such as MJD.  Other research areas include the development of novel therapies to treat the symptoms of MJD, efforts to identify diagnostic markers and to improve current diagnostic procedures for the disease, and population studies to identify affected families.