Taking supplements may also be necessary. For example, fish oil can replace some of the fatty acids the basic building blocks of lipids, or fats missing from the standard PKU diet.
Those fatty acids can help improve neurological development. Each person with PKU has a different level of phenylalanine they can tolerate. If you have PKU, you must work closely with your doctor to develop your individual diet. You need to eat enough phenylalanine for healthy growth and development. Going to the doctor often, and getting regular blood tests, helps keep everything in check. The PKU diet is very restrictive.
But it must be followed. Babies who start the diet soon after birth usually develop normally. Many show no symptoms of PKU.
Support from friends and family or a PKU support group can be helpful when facing the challenges that come with this diet.
This article was contributed by: familydoctor. This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject. Your newborn will go through screening tests at the hospital. The purpose is to find and treat certain health…. Visit The Symptom Checker. Read More. Fever in Infants and Children. Vomiting and Diarrhea. At around 5 days old, babies are offered newborn blood spot screening to test for PKU and many other conditions.
This involves pricking your baby's heel to collect drops of blood to test. If PKU is confirmed, treatment will be given straight away to reduce the risk of serious complications.
Treatment includes a special diet and regular blood tests. With early diagnosis and the correct treatment, most children with PKU are able to live healthy lives. Without treatment, PKU can damage the brain and nervous system, which can lead to learning disabilities.
The main treatment for PKU is a low-protein diet that completely avoids high-protein foods such as meat, eggs and dairy products and controls the intake of many other foods, such as potatoes and cereals. In addition, people with PKU must take an amino acid supplement to ensure they're getting all the nutrients required for normal growth and good health.
There are also several low-protein versions of common foods such as flour, rice and pasta specifically designed for people with PKU and related conditions to incorporate into their diets. Many of these are available on prescription. If a high phenylalanine level is confirmed, a baby will immediately be started on a low-protein diet and amino acid supplements. Phenylalanine levels are regularly monitored by collecting blood from a finger prick on to a special card and sending it to a laboratory.
A dietitian will create a detailed dietary plan for your child that can be revised as your child grows and their needs change. As long as a person with PKU sticks to a low-protein diet throughout childhood, and their phenylalanine levels stay within certain limits, they'll remain well and their natural intelligence will be unaffected.
People with PKU must also avoid food products that contain aspartame, as it's converted into phenylalanine in the body. This can eventually lead to serious health problems.
For the rest of their lives, people with PKU — babies, children and adults — need to follow a diet that limits phenylalanine, which is found mostly in foods that contain protein. Recognizing PKU right away can help prevent major health problems. Newborns with PKU initially don't have any symptoms. However, without treatment, babies usually develop signs of PKU within a few months.
But most children with the disorder still require a special PKU diet to prevent intellectual disability and other complications. If women don't follow the special PKU diet before and during pregnancy, blood phenylalanine levels can become high and harm the developing fetus or cause a miscarriage.
Babies born to mothers with high phenylalanine levels don't often inherit PKU. But they can have serious consequences if the level of phenylalanine is high in the mother's blood during pregnancy.
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If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. When your baby is ready to eat solid foods, they can eat vegetables, fruits, some grains like low-protein cereals, breads and pasta and other low-phenylalanine foods. If your baby has PKU, they should not eat:. PKU meal plans are different for each baby and can vary over time depending on how much phenylalanine your baby can tolerate.
Health care providers at a medical center or clinic that has a special program to treat PKU can help you create a meal plan for your baby. Your child will follows the PKU meal plan through their whole life. If they eventually get pregnant, they follow their meal plan throughout pregnancy. Most pregnant and parenting people who have PKU can have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
The medicine is more likely to work in people with mild or special forms of PKU. They still need regular blood tests to check phenylalanine levels. See also: Genetic counseling , Newborn screening.
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