Hereditary inclusion body myopathies (HIBM) are a group of rare genetic disorders which have different symptoms. Generally, they are neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness developing in young adults. Hereditary inclusion body myopathies comprise both autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant muscle disorders that have a variable expression (phenotype) in individuals, but all share similar structural features in the muscles. HIBMs are a group of muscle wasting disorders that are uncommon in the general world population. One autosomal recessive form of HIBM is known as IBM2 or GNE myopathy, which is a common genetic disorder amongst people of Iranian Jewish descent. IBM2 has also been identified in other minorities throughout the world, including those of Asian, European, and South American, and Middle Eastern descent. In Japan and other East Asian countries, this disorder is known as Distal Myopathy with Rimmed Vacuoles (DMRV). IBM2 causes progressive muscle weakness and wasting. Muscle wasting usually starts around the age of 20 – 30 years, although young onset at 17 and old onset at 52 has been recorded. It can progress to marked disability within 10 to 15 years, confining many people with IBM2 to a wheelchair. The weakness and severity can vary from person to person. In some, weakness in the legs is noticed first. In some others, the hands are weakened more rapidly than the legs. IBM2 does not seem to affect the brain, internal organs or sensation.
Binge eating habits are often associated  with changes in food preferences (cravings for more sweets, carbohydrates), eating inedible objects and snatching food from others. Recent findings from structural MRI research have indicated that eating changes in FTD are associated with atrophy (wasting) in the right ventral insula, striatum, and orbitofrontal cortex.People with FTD show marked deficiencies in executive functioning and working memory. Most become unable to perform skills that require complex planning or sequencing. In addition to the characteristic cognitive dysfunction, a number of primitive reflexes known as frontal release signs are often able to be elicited. Usually the first of these frontal release signs to appear is the palmomental reflex which appears relatively early in the disease course whereas the palmar grasp reflex and rooting reflex appear late in the disease course.In rare cases, FTD can occur in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a motor neuron disease. The prognosis for people with ALS is worse when combined with FTD, shortening survival by about a year. Genetics
A higher proportion of frontotemporal dementias seem to have a familial component than other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers disease. More and more mutations and genetic variants are being identified all the time, needing constant updating of genetic influences. Tau-positive frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) is caused by mutations in the MAPT gene on chromosome 17 that encodes the tau protein. It has been determined that there is a direct relationship between the type of tau mutation and the neuropathology of gene mutations.