SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY

Spinal muscular atrophy is a genetic disorder characterized by weakness and wasting (atrophy) in muscles used for movement (skeletal muscles). It is caused by a loss of specialized nerve cells, called motor neurons that control muscle movement. The weakness tends to be more severe in the muscles that are close to the center of the body (proximal) compared to muscles away from the body's center (distal). The muscle weakness usually worsens with age. There are many types of spinal muscular atrophy that are caused by changes in the same genes. The types differ in age of onset and severity of muscle weakness; however, there is overlap between the types. Other forms of spinal muscular atrophy and related motor neuron diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy with progressive myoclonic epilepsy, spinal muscular atrophy with lower extremity predominance, X-linked infantile spinal muscular atrophy, and spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type 1 are caused by mutations in other genes.