SCREENING SAVES LIVES

...and study says SMA test would cut NHS cost, too

- BY MARTIN BAGOT Health Editor

SCREENING for a devastating muscle-wasting disease at birth would save not only babies’ lives but NHS money as well, landmark research has shown.

The Mirror is demanding a national rollout of a £5 blood test for spinal muscular atrophy on the NHS for all newborns, a move that is backed up by an Oxford University study.

Former Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson and fiance Zion Foster have recently revealed their twin girls Ocean and Story - born in May last year - have the disease. Jesy is also calling for all babies to be tested.

Those with SMA have a fault in their SMN1 gene. Affected babies suffer a die-off of motor neurons, leading to muscle wastage, particularly of the chest, legs and arms.

The Oxford study, published in medical journal the Lancet, reveals 507 babies were born with SMA from January 2019 to November 2024. Of those, 16 died, 15 of them with the most severe variant, type 1.

Of the 198 surviving with type 1, none developed the ability to walk, 65% needed help breathing and 54% have to be fed through a tube into their stomach.