Alyssa Silver: Daring to Be Remarkable in the Face of Spinal Muscular Atrophy
A new journey begins
December 4, 2016, was the start of another remarkable journey for Alyssa. A call from her neurologist led her to become one the first adults with SMA to try Spinraza, a new orphaned drug that has been approved to treat the disorder.
While originally created to treat babies and young children with SMA, Spinraza is also being trialed on adults who suffer from the disorder. Spinraza is administered directly into the central nervous system through a procedure, not unlike a spinal tap. It can be safely said that it’s not necessarily a pleasant experience but it has shown to be effective. As many as 60% of the infants who were given the drug recorded a halt in the progression of the disease.