Spinal muscular atrophies

Spinal muscular atrophies
Location of neurons affected in spinal muscular atrophies
Specialty	Neurology
Symptoms	Loss of motor neurons resulting in muscle wasting

Spinal muscular atrophies (SMAs) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare debilitating disorders characterised by the degeneration of lower motor neurons (neuronal cells situated in the anterior horn of the spinal cord) and subsequent atrophy (wasting) of various muscle groups in the body.^[1] While some SMAs lead to early infant death, other diseases of this group permit normal adult life with only mild weakness.