Whois & Analysis for mda.org

The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public.

The organization was founded in 1950 by a group of concerned parents of children with muscular dystrophy.

Originally known as the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America, it was renamed to its present name in the 1970s.

A nonprofit organization (also known as a non-business entity) is an organization whose purpose is something other than making a profit.

A nonprofit organization is often dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a particular point of view.

In economic terms, a nonprofit organization uses its surplus revenues to further achieve its purpose or mission, rather than distributing its surplus income to the organization's shareholders (or equivalents) as profit or dividends.

This is known as the non-distribution constraint.

The decision to adopt a nonprofit legal structure is one that will often have taxation implications, particularly where the nonprofit seeks income tax exemption, charitable status and so on.

A disease is a particular abnormal condition, a disorder of a structure or function, that affects part or all of an organism.

The study of disease is called pathology which includes the study of cause.

Disease is often construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs.

It may be caused by external factors such as pathogens, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions particularly of the immune system such as an immunodeficiency, or a hypersensitivity including allergies and autoimmunity.

Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism.

In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental or social changes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense in its 1948 constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." This definition has been subject to controversy, in particular as lacking operational value, the ambiguity in developing cohesive health strategies, and because of the problem created by use of the word "complete".

Other definitions have been proposed, among which a recent definition that correlates health and personal satisfaction.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease and motor neurone disease (MND), is a specific disease that causes the death of neurons which control voluntary muscles.

Some also use the term "motor neuron disease" for a group of conditions of which ALS is the most common.

ALS is characterized by stiff muscles, muscle twitching, and gradually worsening weakness due to muscles decreasing in size.

This results in difficulty speaking, swallowing, and eventually breathing.