The Dangers of Pressure Ulcers For SMA Patients

People with SMA spend most of their time sitting in a wheelchair. Because of this, they are at an increased risk of developing pressure ulcers. This is due to the increased time spent with weight-bearing through a specific area, usually, a bony prominence, such as the...
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Transferring My SMA Patient To A New Outpatient Clinic – Change Is Good!!

For nearly 3 years, I’ve been working with Michael as his primary clinician for physical therapy. Within the past month, I decided to move to a different physical therapy location in Ft. Worth Texas. A few weeks before the change was made, Michael and I discussed his...
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Percussion Therapy For SMA Patients

In 1980, when Michael was 15 years old, he underwent scoliosis surgery at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas. During his preop preparation, his parents performed percussion therapy on his back to keep excess fluid and mucus from building up in his lungs. They did this...
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Safety For Both Therapist and SMA Patient

While working with a patient with SMA, you may find it beneficial for the patient, as well as the therapist, to have at least two people available to help in the treatment if you plan to transfer to a therapy table for different exercises. For Michael, we transfer him...
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Improving Muscle Length to Prepare For Future SMA Muscle Targeted Therapy

In preparation for a muscle-targeted treatment, which is currently under development by Scholar Rock for patients with SMA, we have continued to work to maintain the strength improvements Michael has made, but we have also shifted to increasing his range of motion in...
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Helping To Control Swelling In Lower Extremities For SMA Patients

Swelling in the lower extremities is a common occurrence in people who are diagnosed with SMA, secondary to different reasons. Some reasons include lack of muscle contraction and the ability to pump fluid out of their feet, as well as positional limitations during the...
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Q&A Between Physical Therapist and SMA Patient

Michael and I have been working together for the past couple of years, and while speaking with each other about my March HCP article, we thought that doing a question-and-answer article would be interesting. Michael would ask me 5 questions, and I would ask him 5...
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Using Dry Needling To Relieve Muscle Spasms For SMA Patients

Dry needling has been a popular treatment in the world of physical therapy for the past few years and is continuing to gain popularity with more research being performed. There are many different reasons to use dry needling to improve your patients' function, with the...
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Motor Function, Breathing Important in Choosing Treatment

Improvement in motor function, breathing, and ease of administration are among the factors that people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and their caregivers value most when deciding on available treatments, a new study reports. The study, "Treatment preference among...
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Spinraza Shown to Preserve Respiratory Muscle Strength in SMA Type 2 Patients

Spinraza (nusinersen) effectively preserves respiratory muscle strength in addition to motor function in children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 2, according to a real-life, small study in France. Larger studies are needed to confirm these findings, and to...
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Nerve-muscle Communication Molecule May Be SBMA Therapeutic Target, Study Says

Increasing the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) — a molecule involved in the communication between nerve cells and muscle — specifically in muscle delayed symptom onset and slowed disease progression in a mouse model of spinal and bulbar muscular...

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Latest Articles from SMA HCP

Spinraza RESPOND Trial Enrolling Children Not Helped by Zolgensma

Spinraza RESPOND Trial Enrolling Children Not Helped by Zolgensma

Sep 24, 2021

Biogen is continuing to actively recruit patients for its Phase 4 RESPOND trial, which is evaluating the benefits of Spinraza (nusinersen) in infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who responded poorly to the gene therapy Zolgensma. Participants are...

Low Bone Density Puts SMA Children in China at Risk for Fractures

Low Bone Density Puts SMA Children in China at Risk for Fractures

Sep 22, 2021

Children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 2 or 3 in China have lower bone mineral density — putting them at increased risk for bone fractures — compared with healthy children of the same age and sex, a study has found. Furthermore, SMA type 2 children had...

SMA Patient Columns

My Experience with the JACO Robotic Arm

Throughout my life, I have required assistance with the most basic tasks. Things like scratching my head, getting myself a drink, or picking something up off the floor are just a few items on a never-ending list of impossibilities. Fortunately, there is now technology...
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The Amino Acid Diet and Its Benefits

Nutrition has always been a challenge for my daughter, Ella. And, in turn, it is a challenge for my wife and me. Due to Ella's disease, she has an increased amount of difficulty digesting long-chain fats (meats, cheeses, etc.) and she also has a hard time maintaining...
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