Dr. Guillaume Bassez is a neurologist and head of the Translational Myotonic Dystrophy Research Group at the Institut de Myologie in Paris. He established the International DM Standardized Registry, or DM Scope, in France, which currently includes 3,000 DM1 patients. Dr. Bassez has focused a portion of his research on identifying ways to determine differences in the way DM manifests itself and progresses in different portions of the DM1 population, because stratifying the disease is important for clinical studies and clinical trials. His previous work showed to the surprise of many that the clinical manifestations of myotonic dystrophy (DM) in men and women were different. He recently contributed to a four-country study, titled “OPTOMISTIC,” that looked at non-drug approaches to treating DM. This involved the use of cognitive behavior therapy and aerobic exercise as a way to address fatigue and related problems such as sleepiness and inactivity that DM patients experience. Today there is no approved drug for these symptoms. The study reported out in summer 2018 with positive results.
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