by Christina Medvescek

Are you convinced you could win big money on the ABC-TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”? Do you loudly scoff that any idiot could answer those questions? Have you ever obsessively called the contestant qualification phone number, trying to get on the show?

Well … we can’t help you there. (Maybe you should see somebody.) But we can offer this shameless takeoff on the game as a way to hone your skills, just in case the category “MDA” ever comes up in competition.

It’s also just a fun way to pass the time on a gray winter day. Here’s how our game is played:

Unlike the TV show contestants, you aren’t playing for real money! (Judge Judy, please note that we put this in writing.)

There are 15 questions standing between you and winning a (pretend!) million dollars. The questions get harder as you go along, but the (fake!) payoff gets better, too. In the TV game, you must reach “safe levels,” which guarantee you a minimum payoff. In our game, you win (not!) the amount shown in the last question you answered correctly.

Questions are evenly divided among five categories: MDA History, MDA Services, Diseases Covered by MDA, MDA Research, and MDA Sponsors and Celebrities.

Just as on the real show, you get three “lifelines” — opportunities to seek outside help with answers. You may Phone a Friend. Call anybody you like. Say hi from us. You may Poll the Audience, assuming there are people watching you take the quiz. You may do a 50/50 (reduce the possible answers from four to two), by looking at the little box. Remember, you’re on your honor to use just three lifelines!

In the TV game, if you miss a question, the game is over. In the MDA version, if you miss a question, you say aloud, “Oh (insert favorite exclamation here)!” then keep playing.

Ready? Then let’s play! (Flashing lights! Suspenseful music!)

1. For $100:

Who is MDA’s National Chairman?

2. For $200:

Until 1975, MDA was called the MDAA. What did the second “A” stand for?

3. For $300:

MDA started this popular service program in 1955 in Sussex, N.J.:

4. For $400:

In 1986, MDA-supported researchers made which groundbreaking discovery?

5. For $1,000:

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a disease of the:

OK, so much for the warm-up questions. Let’s go up to the next level.

6. For $2,000:

In 1952, the very first Telethon held exclusively for MDA was broadcast for 16½ hours in Washington. The hosts were:

7. For $4,000:

In 1966, MDA and five other health agencies lobbied for federal legislation on which issue?

8. For $8,000:

How many MDA clinics and MDA/ALS centers currently are in operation in the United States?

Think this is still too easy? Get ready for the difficult half of the game

9. For $16,000:

Inclusion-body myositis (IBM) is one of the 40-plus diseases covered by MDA. In which category of neuromuscular disease does it belong?

10. For $32,000:

In the 1970s, MDA-supported researchers developed an effective treatment for myasthenia gravis, called:

11. For $64,000:

In 2002, MDA added this piece of medical equipment to the list of items it helps purchase for people it serves:

12. For $125,000:

Which of these animals was never used in MDA research?

13. For $250,000:

Which of these neuromuscular diseases is most common among people registered with MDA?

Which of these organizations is MDA’s oldest national sponsor, signing on in 1951 and steadfastly supporting MDA’s programs ever since?

And here it is, the (sham!) $1,000,000 question

15. For $1,000,000:

In 1959, the 8-year-old MDAA constructed a $5 million, 11-story research facility in New York City devoted to finding cures and treatments for neuromuscular diseases. The facility, closed in 1974, was called the:

           50-50 BOX

1. A or B 2. A or C 3. A or C 4. A or D 5. A or D 6. A or B 7. B or D 8. C or D

9.  A or D 10. B or D 11. A or D 12. B or D 13. B or C 14. A or D 15. A or B

ANSWERS

1. Who is the 2002 MDA National Chairman?

Answer B, our own JL: Well, duh. OK, you’re up one. Don’t worry they won’t all be this easy.

2. Up until 1975, MDA was called the MDAA. What did the second “A” stand for?

Answer A: The original name not only had an extra “A” but an extra “s”: the Muscular Dystrophy Associations of America. The extra “A” helped distinguish the organization from the MDAC, which MDAA officers helped Canadians start in the early 1950s.

MDA summer camps today serve more than 4,000 children each year.

3. MDA started this popular service program in 1955:

Answer C: The first MDA summer camp, held at Camp Sussex in New Jersey, was sponsored by five MDA chapters in New York City as “an experiment in opening new areas of experience to dystrophic children.” Tens of thousands of campers later, the experiment is a definite success

.

Louis Krunkel

4. In 1986, MDA-supported researchers made which groundbreaking discovery?

Answer D: The discovery of the Duchenne gene, by a team headed by Louis Kunkel of Children’s Hospital in Boston, provided scientists with the basic information necessary to work on genetic therapies and drug treatments. It also allowed for genetic testing for the disease. Following on the heels of this discovery came identification of genetic flaws underlying other neuromuscular diseases, a process that’s now identified the causes of almost all the genetic diseases in MDA’s program.

5. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a disease of the:

Answer A, muscles: Although this seems obvious now, it was one of the first questions MDA researchers had to answer on the long and painstaking road to a cure.

6. Who hosted the first Telethon held exclusively for MDA?

Answer A, Joey Adams and the Video Rangers: Ha — did we get ya? Although Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin raised funds for MDA via a Telethon in 1952, that broadcast also benefited the New York Cardiac Home. But soon thereafter, the wildly popular Martin-Lewis comedy team began hosting MDA-only fund-raising events. By the way, everyone mentioned in all the answer choices was an early public supporter of the MDA mission.

7. In 1966, MDA lobbied for federal legislation addressing which issue?

Answer B, making public facilities accessible: MDA has a long history of promoting equal opportunities for people with disabilities.

8. How many MDA clinics and MDA/ALS centers currently are in operation?

Answer C, 230 clinics and 29 ALS centers … and counting.

9. In what category does inclusion-body myositis belong?

Answer D, inflammatory myopathies: Sporadic IBM is a common neuromuscular disease in people over 50, causing weakness in the arms, legs, wrists, hands and sometimes swallowing muscles. Slowly progressive, it affects more men than women. IBM involves inflammation but it isn’t a typical inflammatory disease. It was added to MDA’s program in July 2000.

10. In the 1970s, MDA-supported researchers developed what treatment for myasthenia gravis?

Peter Dau

Answer B, plasmapheresis: Researchers led by Peter Dau, now of Evanston Hospital in Illinois, tried a different approach toward the treatment of autoimmune conditions. Rather than trying to change the immune system with medication alone, they sought to physically remove undesirable immune-system antibodies from the bloodstream, in a process similar to kidney dialysis. The procedure, also known as plasma exchange, can result in rapid improvement of symptoms, especially in myasthenia gravis. It’s occasionally used in dermatomyositis and polymyositis.

11. In 2002, MDA began helping to purchase what item for the people it serves?

Augmentative communicaton devices are the latest addition to MDA’s durable equipment assistance program.

Answer A, augmentative communication devices: These devices assist those who’ve lost the ability to speak as a result of neuromuscular diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Besides helping purchase equipment such as wheelchairs and leg braces, MDA also maintains equipment loan closets in its field offices.

12. Which of these animals was never used in MDA research?

Answer B: As far as we know, there’s no such thing as a noodle-bodied rat, but all the other animals at one time played important roles in MDA research.

13. Which neuromuscular disease is most common among people registered with MDA?

Answer C: CMT, a disease of the peripheral nerves, causes weakness in the feet, lower legs, hands and forearms. It’s not usually life-threatening, but can get worse with age.

Representatives of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon present a donation for MDA to co-host Jann Carl on the 2002 MDA Telethon.

14. What is MDA’s oldest national
sponsor?

Answer A, Tall Cedars of Lebanon: This fraternal organization ended a 25-year search for a nonprofit organization to adopt as its own when it took up the MDA cause in 1951. Despite numerous jokes by Jerry Lewis about their distinctive hats worn during Telethon appearances over the years, the Tall Cedars have raised more than $14 million for MDA programs. All four of the organizations named in the answer choices are major MDA national sponsors.

Well, have you been right so far? Get the next answer and you’re a (fantasy!) millionaire!

15. What’s the name of the New York research facility MDA built in 1959?

Answer B: The Institute for Muscle Disease (IMD) represented the bright hope for a quick cure to muscle disease. By concentrating research facilities and personnel (which had economic benefits), MDAA aimed at creating a place “where new concepts in muscle research meet.”

By the early 1970s, however, it had become clear that neuromuscular disease wasn’t going to yield quickly, and the facility was sold to New York Hospital. MDAA’s new research philosophy, which continues today, became “let the world be our laboratory.”