Latest Lutz Garbes Stories

Researchers find a simple way of avoiding dangerous side effects The commonly-used epilepsy drug, valproic acid (VPA), can have a highly beneficial effect on some babies born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the number one genetic killer during early infancy. But in about two-thirds of such cases it is either damaging or simply has no effect. Now, for the first time, researchers have found a way to identify which patients are likely to respond well to VPA prior to starting treatment....