MSA is a rare, fast and fatal brain disease. MSA impairs the systems that regulate blood pressure, heart rate and the bladder – many of the basic bodily functions that people take for granted every day. People with MSA suffer from dangerously low blood pressure, speech and swallowing difficulties, sleep disturbances, breathing problems, rigidity and tremors. The life expectancy is typically 5 to 10 years. Patients with advanced MSA often become bed-bound, unable to speak and immobile. At present, there is no cure for MSA, no genetic tests to detect it, no therapy to slow it and very few treatments to manage its debilitating effects.