- The ARC - California Edition -

PKU Alert

“People with Phenylketonuria (PKU) need to maintain their low protein special diets throughout their entire life,” according to an advisory panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This consensus group issued their warning after determining that adults with PKU who do not stay on their restricted diet often result in having significantly reduced performance with their attention span, and with the speed their brain can process information. 

PKU is an inherited metabolic disease that can lead to mental retardation and other developmental disabilities if treatment is not immediately started very soon after birth. 

If a child is born with this fault in their metabolism, its body would be unable to produce the proteins or enzymes needed to convert certain toxic chemicals into nontoxic products. This deficiency leads to elevated levels of the amino acid phenylalanine in the persons bloodstream.

In the United States, it is estimated that one out of every 15,000 infants is born with PKU. As a result of screening programs that were started 40 years ago, these children with the PKU disorder are being identified and treated. Most of them grow into being healthy adults. 

The NIH panel underscored the need to begin treatment for all newborns found to have this disorder within 7 to 10 days after birth. The advisory panel further strongly recommended that PKU-afflicted women of childbearing age take special steps to control their phenylalanine levels during their pregnancy in order to protect the developing fetus.

http://thearc.org/faqs/pku.html