In the 1, 040-patient study, patients with milder disease had a 42% lower reduction in how fast they declined on one version of the ADAS-cog test.

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In those with a milder form of the disease, they found a protein associated with a bacterial immune response - interferon-gamma.

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In effect, Duchenne patients could develop a milder form of the disease, known as Becker muscular dystrophy, says Petra Kaufmann, a neuromuscular researcher who directs the Office of Clinical Research at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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American health officials report that the disease they are seeing appears to be milder than that spreading through Asia, which suggests that the virulence of the disease differs among victims.

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