August is SMA awareness month and since you are reading this you probably already have a general idea about this brutal disease and why increasing awareness of it is so necessary. Over the next few weeks we will be asking things of you. We will be challenging you to get more involved. We will be celebrating your support. And we will be in this together to create necessary change for the #1 genetic killer of young children. From the moment of theGSF's founding, we have always believed that every effort matters, no matter how big or how small — with each new person who learns about Spinal Muscular Atrophy, we are one step closer than we were yesterday. And so, we are asking you to think about what YOU can do this month. We will be showing you ways you can help. And we will make a difference together because we can. We all have the power to do something.
August 1st is here and This is SMA:
- SMA KILLS more infants and young children than any other inherited disease.
- There is NO treatment. There is NO cure.
- SMA is degenerative, eventually hindering the ability to walk, stand, sit, eat, breathe and even swallow. The mind is no different from that of a healthy baby, but the body eventually fails.
- Typical babies with SMA Type 1 have a life expectancy of between one and two years and require around-the-clock medical assistance and monitoring.
- 1 in every 40 people or nearly 10 million Americans UNKNOWINGLY carry the gene responsible for SMA few have any known family history of SMA.
- SMA is a pan-ethnic disease and does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, or gender.
- While SMA is currently incurable, untreatable, and drastically underfunded –> There is HOPE.
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) selected SMA as the disease CLOSEST TO TREATMENT of more than 600 neurological disorders.
- SMA is considered a MODEL DISEASE with direct impact on research into many other diseases, potentially benefiting millions of people.
- With your help, groundbreaking research will continue to be funded around the world, each finding further unlocking the SMA puzzle.
Our Mission. The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (theGSF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to increasing awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), supporting families impacted, and accelerating research focused on ending this cruel disease. We are an all volunteer organization, meaning 100% of your donation goes toward fulfilling our mission to change SMA. Together we can END SMA — ONE person and ONE dollar at a time.