Jerry Lewis loses muscular dystrophy telethon gig

(CBS) Jerry Lewis' long run at the Muscular Dystrophy Association has come to an abrupt end.

The 85-year-old comedian won't host the association's annual Labor Day Telethon or serve as its national chairman, the MDA announced on Wednesday. No explanation was given for the moves.

Lewis - who has battled health problems in recent years - has been affiliated with the MDA since the early 1950s and has hosted the telethon since 1966, the Associated Press reported. During Lewis' long tenure, the telethons raised more than $1 billion and a national network of some 200 hospital-affiliated clinics opened.

How has life changed for "Jerry's kids?" What lies for the children and adults who are battling the fatal hereditary disease?

"We've come a long way," Dr. Rabi N. Tawil, co-director of the muscular dystrophy clinic at the University of Rochester, told CBS News. "There has been an explosion of information about the genetic defects that cause muscular dystrophy and tremendous advances in treatment."

As a result of these strides, he said, doctors have been able to slow the progression of the muscle weakness that characterizes muscular dystrophy - and prolong the lives of patients. Not long ago, boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy - the most common among dozens of types of the disease - typically died in their teens. Now many survive until their late 20s or early 30s.

Dr. Tawil - whose clinic gets support from the Muscular Dystrophy Assiociation - said that gene therapy treatments now under investigation were unlikely to bring about a cure but could mean even greater gains in longevity.

What about Lewis' contribution? Said Dr. Tawil, "He has been instrumental."

NIH has more on muscular dystrophy.