<unk>  <unk>  is a group of inherited diseases whose main feature is a progressive gait disorder. The disease presents with progressive stiffness<unk> ity) and contraction in the lower limbs.<unk>  is also known as hereditary<unk>  paraparesis, familial<unk><unk> , French settlement disease, Strumpell disease, or Strumpell-Lorrain disease. The symptoms are a result of dysfunction of long axons in the spinal cord. The affected cells are the primary motor neurons; therefore, the disease is an upper motor neuron disease.<unk>  is not a form of cerebral palsy even though it physically may appear and behave much the same as<unk>  diplegia. The origin of<unk>  is different from cerebral palsy. Despite this, some of the same anti-spasticity medications used in<unk>  cerebral palsy are sometimes used to treat<unk>  symptoms.<unk>  is caused by defects in transport of proteins, structural proteins, cell-maintaining proteins, lipids, and other substances through the cell. Long nerve fibers (axons) are affected because long distances make nerve cells particularly sensitive to defects in these mentioned mechanisms. The disease was first described in 1880 by the German neurologist Adolph Strümpell. It was described more extensively in 1888 by Maurice Lorrain, a French physician. Due to their contribution in describing the disease, it is still called Strümpell-Lorrain disease in French-speaking countries. The term<unk>  was coined by Anita Harding in 1983.
Hereditary spastic paraplegia
Spinal muscular atrophy
Madras motor neuron disease
Tropical ataxic neuropathy
Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy
Autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia type 1
Distal hereditary motor neuronopathies
Congenital distal spinal muscular atrophy