Welcome
NEW - State of HSP Research:The Promise and the Reality written by Allen Bernard
First the good news. Researchers working on hereditary spastic paraplegia, better known as HSP, know more today than ever before. They are uncovering new linkages between the proteins that are at the heart of the disorder all the time. This is good because the more common themes you can discover in a disease as complex and mysterious as HSP, the better. These themes, or nodes as they are also called, help cell biologists map the disease and understand why so many different variants -- SPG3A, SPG4, SPG31, etc. -- cause the same common problem: lower limb spasticity and high muscle tone.
About the Foundation
The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (SPF) was created in 2002 as a voluntary, non-profit health organization. Our goals are:
- to fund research into the causes, therapies and cures for the upper motor neuron disorders hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS),
- to provide educational materials, conferences and gatherings for people affected with and by these disorders, and
- to foster support for those affected with and by these disorders, through both on-line and in-person contacts. The ultimate goal of SPF is to see the day when all those with HSP and PLS are diagnosed, treated, and cured.
With your support, we strive to make that day a reality.
