Russia approves clinical guidelines for managing adult spinal muscular atrophy

In February 2024, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approved clinical recommendations for the management of adult patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The document was adopted by the scientific and practical council of the department, the text of the recommendations was posted in the rubric of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease affecting the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and voluntary muscle movement (skeletal muscle). Most of the nerve cells that control muscles are located in the spinal cord, which accounts for the word spinal in the name of the disease. SMA is muscular because its primary effect is on muscles, which don’t receive signals from these nerve cells. 

Atrophy is the medical term for getting smaller, which is what generally happens to muscles when they’re not stimulated by nerve cells. SMA involves the loss of nerve cells called motor neurons in the spinal cord and is classified as a motor neuron disease.

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