Heres what to know about these conditions and how theyre managed.
What are metabolic disorders?
When a baby has a metabolic disorder, the digestive system cant break down the food correctly.
Some of the metabolic disorders that newborn tests commonly look for include:
What causes metabolic disorders?
Most metabolic disorders occur when a baby is missing a digestive enzyme thats needed to properly break down food.
Thats why screening newborns early before they start showing signs of possible problems is so important.
Symptoms vary based on the specific disorder.
What happens during a newborn metabolic screening?
Metabolic screenings are performed when babies are 1 or 2 days old, before they leave the hospital.
Though newborn metabolic screenings look for a wide range of disorders, the process itself is simple.
(If the screening comes back normal, you probably wont hear anything.)
In many cases, children with metabolic disorders can stay healthy by avoiding certain foods.
Babies with galactosemia can avoid complications by eliminating dairy products (which contain lactose) and drinking soy-basedformulainstead.
Some children might also need to take supplements or medications.
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