What Happens When You Have Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)?
When someone has SMA, the nerve cells in the spinal cord and lower brain that send signals to the muscles become damaged or atrophy, causing muscles to weaken and shrink over time. This can affect movement in the arms, legs, chest, throat, face, and tongue, which may impact a person’s ability to sit, stand, walk, lift their arms, speak, swallow, cough, and breathe. SMA damages motor neurons, and as muscle damage worsens, it can affect speaking, walking, swallowing, and breathing.
What happens with Spinal Muscular Atrophy can look different from person to person depending on SMA type, age of onset, treatment history, respiratory health, and daily support needs. Some individuals may experience symptoms in infancy, including low muscle tone, feeding difficulties, breathing problems, and delayed motor milestones, while others may develop weakness later in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood. SMA can cause difficulty feeding, breathing problems from weak respiratory muscles, and later challenges with walking or climbing stairs depending on the type.
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