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Start free with EleplanKennedy disease
ORPHA:481Disease
Also called SBMA · SMAX1 · X-linked BSMA · X-linked bulbospinal amyotrophy · X-linked bulbospinal muscular atrophy · X-linked spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy
What it is
Kennedy's disease, also known as bulbospinal muscular atrophy (BSMA), is a rare X-linked recessive motor neuron disease characterized by proximal and bulbar muscle wasting.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 100 000 (Europe)
- Age of onset
- Adult
- Inheritance
- X-linked recessive
- Classified as
- Disease
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
Signs and symptoms
Very common80–99%
10These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
Gene
ICD-10 codes
ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Benefit programs to look at
Programs whose eligibility touches the same ICD-10 categories. Eligibility is decided by the administering agency, never by this page.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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