Spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) are a wide group of genetic disorders characterized by primary degeneration of anterior horn cells of the spinal cord, resulting in progressive muscle weakness.
As no specific treatment is available for spinal muscular atrophies, the resulting complications of muscle deterioration are managed as best as possible.
Destruction of the anterior horn of the spinal cord often results in muscular disorders. These include sclerosis, Charcotâ??Marieâ??Tooth disease, progressive muscular atrophy, and other muscular atrophies.
In babies and children, many SMAs are rapidly progressive with paralysis of the legs, trunk, and eventually, the respiratory muscles. In teenagers and adults, SMAs are usually slowly progressive
Several diseases attack the motor neurons that have cell bodies located in the anterior horn of the spinal column namely: amyotropic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophies, primary lateral sclerosis, and Kennedy's disease (see the linked article for more detail).
Spinal muscular atrophy is an autosomal recessive disease. The severity of spinal muscular atrophy varies, and is the most common genetic cause of infant death.
The most common form of spinal muscular atrophy is childhood proximal SMA.
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease that affects the motor neuron cells in the spinal cord. This would impact the person's ability to walk, eat, or breathe. Anything that is a genetic disease cannot be cured, however the symptoms can be minimized through treatment, surgery and/or medication.
the spinal cord
The muscular system.
Causes weakness and wasting of voluntary muscle in arms and legs of infants. Occurs in brain and spinal cord of body. This is caused by missing gene known as survival motor neuron gene (smn1). This gene is responsible for the production of a protein essential to motor neurons. When you are an infant you body destroys many of the neurons because as an infant you have too many. In SMA you body will not stop destroying the neurons, you body eventually becomes weak and you can not move on you own. There is no known cure.
Spinal manipulative therapies are those that are used on the human skeleton, particularly the spinal area, to relieve muscular or skeletal pain , relieve tension, improve the mobility of joints.
Charles Norris discovered spinal muscular atrophy in 1958. While he was experimenting with lettuce, he noticed than SMN neurons flowing through the vegetable caused loss of motor function, which left the lettuce deformed.