Researchers say that women who take a combination of folates during pregnancy could prevent their babies from developing hydrocephalus, one of the most common birth brain defects.
Tests on rats showed that folates dramatically reduced the rates of hydrocephalus, a condition in which fluids build up in the brain's chambers. They even seemed to work after the condition had already started to develop.
The work is still at an early stage, but the researchers hope to get permission to start clinical trials in pregnant women with babies diagnosed with hydrocephalus.
At present hydrocephalus affects one in 1,000 live births. There is no treatment for it other than surgical diversion of the fluid through a tube, known as a shunt. However, shunts are permanent and prone to infection and blockage.