Disorders affecting metabolism
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Disorders affecting metabolism
Metabolic disorders affect food digestion. Although very rare, some infants born with one of these disorders are not able to breast-feed. Most babies are screened at birth for these problems, which may include:
- Galactosemia, a condition that prevents an infant from digesting galactose, a sugar found in milk.
- Phenylketonuria (PKU), which prevents the digestion of phenylalanine, a component common to many proteins. Breast-feeding sometimes is possible, since breast milk has low levels of phenylalanine. However, the baby will need extra feedings with low-phenylalanine formula and frequent monitoring. If you want to breast-feed your baby who has PKU, talk with your doctor.
Credits
| Author | Kathe Gallagher, MSW |
| Editor | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS |
| Associate Editor | Denele Ivins |
| Associate Editor | Pat Truman, MATC |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine |
| Last Updated | May 10, 2007 |
| Last updated: | May 10, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Kathe Gallagher, MSW |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine |
| Editors: | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Pat Truman, MATC |
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