Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is one of the neuromuscular diseases. Muscles weaken and waste away due to degeneration of motor neurones which are nerve cells in the spinal cord. The gene for Spinal Muscular Atrophy is passed from parents to their children, but this can only affect a child if both parents carry a defective gene (this is called an autosomal recessive pattern). Genes come in pairs, one from each parent. If a person has one normal and one affected gene they do not show the symptoms of Spinal Muscular Atrophy but are carriers. If both genes are affected they will have Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Details of symptoms causes diagnosis and treatment information.