New Study Shows how Newborn Screening for SMA Leads to More Children Walking Two Years Post Diagnosis

A new study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal suggests that newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), when combined with early treatment, results in better movement ability in affected children, including the ability to walk. This is based on a comparison between children diagnosed pre-symptomatically via newborn screening and children diagnosed reactively, once symptoms had developed. The evidence draws on real world data from the Australian pilot for SMA newborn screening and clearly demonstrates the clinical effectiveness of newborn screening, underscoring the need for SMA to be added to the newborn screening programme in the UK.