SMA is a kind of motor neuron disease and is a genetically heterogeneous group of hereditary neurologic diseases. Motor neurons are those nervous cells of the spinal cord that trigger muscle motion required for carrying out motor functions.
This particular disease involves a gradual degeneration of motor neurons located in the anterior horns of the spinal cord, and in some cases in the motor nuclei of the brain stem. Patient experiences a mutation in the survival motor neuron gene responsible for producing a protein which is crucial for normal functioning of the motor neurons.
An absence of this protein leads to a condition where there is an atrophy of nerve cells, reduction in their sizes and eventual death resulting from muscle weakness.
Some clinical symptoms of SMA may be as follows:
- Paresis and atrophy of striated muscles
- Fasciculations
- Lesion of proximal muscles, bulbar syndrome, asymmetric muscle lesion
- Spine deflection
FSC therapy has reported positive results in patients with this condition. There has been a marked remission of in 75% of patients, and reduced neurogenic dystrophy in 92% cases.