Treatment matters

Treatment matters

The progression of SMA is relentless – even if you don’t notice the impact day to day

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by a shortage of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein, which your muscles need to function. As a result, muscles throughout your body continuously weaken.

This may lead to:

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may cause swallowing difficulties over time

difficulty swallowing

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may cause eating difficulties over time

difficulty eating

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may cause loss of motor function over time

loss of motor function (for example, losing the ability to walk)

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) may cause respiratory complications over time

challenges breathing


Over time, it may cause complications with your bones, joints, and spine.

These changes happen whether you have Type 1, 2, or 3 SMA, even if you don’t notice it. For many, the subtle changes that happen from one day to the next can be hard to see until a key ability is lost.
These changes happen whether you have Type 1, 2, or 3 SMA, even if you don’t notice it. For many, the subtle changes that happen from one day to the next can be hard to see until a key ability is lost.


Small changes can have a big impact over time

"The progression of SMA can be slow. You don't realize that something is happening to you until you try to do something that you used to be able to do a year ago, and then you are like 'Oh, I can't do that anymore.'"

Angela, teacher, foodie, and avid rodeo fan, living with Type 2 SMA
Angela, living with Type 2 SMA
Tanner, living with Type 2 SMA

"Since SMA is progressive, the longer you go without treatment, the weaker you become.  Every day matters."

Tanner, businessman, coach, and author, living with Type 2 SMA

Treatment matters

Disease-modifying treatments have proven benefit across a broad range of ages and can help change the natural history of the disease.

These SMA treatments may:
  • Increase SMN protein
  • Help slow disease progression
  • Help maintain or improve motor function
  • Fit into your routine
     
You have the power to take action

Treatment can make a difference

You have the power to take action

“My biggest encouragement to others with SMA is to seek out treatment. Talk to your doctor. It can give you hope."

Dan, sit-up comic, motivational speaker, and sports fan, living with Type 2 SMA 
Dan, living with Type 2 SMA

Choice can be powerful

Taking action

These adults with SMA realized time matters when living with a relentless disease. See why they chose to put their futures first.

SMA is like a string of lights. When one bulb goes out, you don’t really notice. But over time, as more and more bulbs go out, all of a sudden, you’re in the dark.

So I was noticing that I wasn’t as strong as I used to be. I wasn’t able to walk long distances. I was unable to get myself off the floor. I was unable to walk up and down the stairs on my own.

I was always constantly getting weaker. And so, that is very difficult. It’s very difficult. I remember probably the biggest thing that lasts in my mind is there was a time when I was still able to feed myself, and I remember going to work. I would literally take myself to work on public transportation 2 hours each way. And during lunch, someone would just help me throw something in the microwave, and I would be able to feed myself. And one day, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t get the fork to my mouth. And so, after about a week of struggling trying to feed myself still, I had to realize that I just couldn’t do it anymore. And that was probably the hardest thing for me to accept because it was that last ability that I’m no longer able to do.

SMA has been a slow progression. It’s not really something that I notice day to day. But when I think back, like when I was first a teacher, I could use an overhead projector, and now I can’t. And so, it’s obvious that it has progressed.

Imagine there’s a hundred things you do every day from the minute you get up in the morning. You stand up, you walk to the bathroom, you kiss your wife, you answer the phone, you hug your kids. There’s some more than a hundred things. But imagine there’s a hundred things that you do. And with this disease, those go away. Forty years ago, we didn’t know what it was. We didn’t have any treatment. But now, today, today there’s treatment.

SMA does not offer a lot of choices in my life. I had to basically do what it told me to do. And for once, now I have a choice, and my choice is to seek treatment and to slow the progression of a disease that is going to continue whether I want it to or not.

I like options. Options are great, right? We live in a society where there’s always an option. And I’m just grateful that there is actually an option, not just one, but many because for so long, the SMA community hasn’t had a treatment and a possibility that something will help us, help us maintain our strengths.

I think choice is always important in any circumstance, but most certainly when it comes to your body. And being able to make a choice of how you want to approach a situation and how you wanna approach SMA is critical.

My goal is to continue and maintain some of the things that I'm able to do on my own. I wanna know that I’m doing everything I can to maintain motor function so that I can be there for my family and my students, and my husband.

In talking to other people about Evrysdi, I love telling them that Evrysdi for me is about taking action, and I get to take action every single day by taking Evrysdi.

What motivated me to start taking treatment with Evrysdi was my wife, really, honestly. She is the one that told me how important it was for me to have a full life to be with her, how important it was for me to be there for her. And it wasn’t until then that I realized that I’m not just living my life for me anymore. And so, I did seek treatment. I'm not one looking forward to retirement.

I wanna be able to do what I’m doing with the voiceover work, and I wanna be able to do that for another 10, 15 years. The future for me should look just like it does today, and that would be wonderful.

I would tell anyone I met with SMA to seek treatment. I can’t begin to describe how it feels every morning when I get to take that medication and to know that I am fighting a disease that has been fighting me. And I get to make that choice, and I would want anyone to make that choice as well.

Treatment matters.

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Important Safety Information and Indication

What is Evrysdi?

Evrysdi is a prescription medicine used to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in children and adults.

  • Before taking Evrysdi, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:
    • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, as Evrysdi may harm your unborn baby. Ask your healthcare provider for advice before taking this medicine
    • are a woman who can become pregnant:
      • Before you start your treatment with Evrysdi, your healthcare provider may test you for pregnancy
      • Talk to your healthcare provider about birth control methods that may be right for you. Use birth control while on treatment and for at least 1 month after stopping Evrysdi
      • Pregnancy Registry. There is a pregnancy registry for women who take Evrysdi during pregnancy. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about the health of the pregnant woman and her baby. If you are pregnant or become pregnant while receiving Evrysdi, tell your healthcare provider right away. Talk to your healthcare provider about registering with the Evrysdi Pregnancy Registry. Your healthcare provider can enroll you in this registry or you can enroll by calling 1-833-760-1098 or visiting www.evrysdipregnancyregistry.com
    • are an adult male. Evrysdi may affect a man’s ability to have children (fertility). Ask a healthcare provider for advice before taking this medicine
    • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if Evrysdi passes into breast milk and may harm your baby
  • Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take
  • You should receive Evrysdi from the pharmacy as a liquid. If the medicine in the bottle is a powder, do not use it. Contact your pharmacist for a replacement
  • Avoid getting Evrysdi on your skin or in your eyes. If Evrysdi gets on your skin, wash the area with soap and water. If Evrysdi gets in your eyes, rinse your eyes with water
  • The most common side effects of Evrysdi include:
    • For later-onset SMA:
      • fever
      • diarrhea
      • rash
    • For infantile-onset SMA:            
      • fever
      • diarrhea
      • rash
      • runny nose, sneezing, and sore throat (upper respiratory infection)
      • lung infection (lower respiratory infection)
      • constipation
      • vomiting
      • cough

These are not all of the possible side effects of Evrysdi. For more information on the risk and benefits profile of Evrysdi, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist.

You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. You may also report side effects to Genentech at 1-888-835-2555.

Please see full Prescribing Information for additional Important Safety Information.

    • Información de prescripción de Evrysdi® (risdiplam). Genentech, Inc.

      Información de prescripción de Evrysdi® (risdiplam). Genentech, Inc.