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7 Ways to Make Life at Home Easier

Now, more than ever, we’re spending a lot of time at home. While the continuing threat of the novel coronavirus makes this the safest place to be, home is also a place where frustrations can multiply when trying to accomplish everyday tasks.We chatted with experts and people living with neuro­muscular diseases to get tips on how to ease some common struggles so you can truly feel the comforts of home.

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A Good Beginning: Newborn Screening

Early diagnosis and treatment for neuromuscular diseases that can be treated is crucial, as the disorders are progressive and, in many cases, fatal. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), for example, is the leading genetic cause of death in infants. While only a few years ago there were no disease-modifying therapies for SMA, today there are multiple lifesaving treatment options on the market.

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The Importance of Genetic Testing

Kelly Berger, 31, of Cincinnati, spent most of her life chasing a diagnosis. When she was 3, her parents noticed that, although she reached physical milestones for her age, she did them in unusual ways. For example, to step up, she pushed off her thighs with her hands, and she preferred crawling on stairs to walking them. Her parents took her to a neurologist and, after bloodwork, an electromyography (EMG), and a muscle biopsy, she received a diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 3. That was in the early 1990s, when fewer types of neuromuscular disease were understood.

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Living, Not Suffering

I often hear people say that I suffer from muscular dystrophy.  I don’t like this use of the word “suffer.” I am living my life to the fullest, and don’t feel like I am suffering at all.I may need to ask for help sometimes or adapt to my surroundings, but I can always be myself. Coming to that realization took years of hard work and some tough life lessons.

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2019 Lasting Impression Photo Contest Winners

Congratulations to Brent Gillespie of Benton, Ark., our photo contest winner.This photo, taken in the summer of 2019, captures Brent, 43, trying adaptive wakeboarding for the first time on Lake Ouachita, a popular spot for water sports in Arkansas. The men wakeboarding with him are volunteers from Wake the World, a nonprofit offering water sport experiences for people with disabilities, wounded veterans, and others.

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Outside the Lab

Michael Lo Sapio, father of Mikey, 7, and Reid, 5, proudly admits that he’s pushy. Both his boys live with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which causes progressive muscle degeneration and weakness beginning in early childhood. People with DMD typically live to their late teens or early 20s.These facts are grim, but being pushy means not accepting the statistics without a fight. For Michael — and many people living with neuromuscular diseases — one way to push back on the numbers is by participating in research.

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Wheels Like Mine

I am a mom. I have spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). My son has SMA, too. Because SMA is a genetic disorder, these statements may not seem surprising. It wouldn’t be all that strange for a person with SMA to pass on their condition to their child. But that is not our story. Our journey to family is more convoluted and, dare I say, even more beautiful than most would guess. Ours is a story of love and adoption and beauty where others see tragedy.

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What’s the Toy Story?

Barbies were a favorite toy of young Jessica Hetzel, despite the fact that the dolls looked nothing like her. It took until February 2019, when Jessica was 17, for Mattel to release a Barbie in a wheelchair. “I’m not playing with Barbies these days,” says Hetzel, who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). “But I was excited to see they finally did it.”

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More Than a Game

A typical weekend day for me starts off with my partner or caregiver feeding me breakfast (Cheerios with milk on the side) and ends with me falling asleep to an episode of “Cutthroat Kitchen.” In between these moments, I game with friends from all over the country. Gaming has been part of my life since the 1980s. I grew up playing on all the major gaming systems and had a constant slew of competitors in my brother and neighborhood friends. But as congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD) affected my body over the years, and as game controllers became more complex, I started having trouble keeping up with my peers.

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Ongoing Clinical Trials

During the second day of the 2019 MDA Clinical & Scientific Conference, 14 scientists and clinicians shared exciting updates from the pipeline of clinical trials. Below are highlights from the session.At the time of the conference, Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi, or AVXS-101) was under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In May, the FDA approved the drug as a therapy for the treatment of children younger than age 2 with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

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