Patient's question:
My child is now at school age but still doesn't talk much. Children around the same age as him can already run fast. Also, his hair is yellow, and he has seizures. We have had him checked thoroughly at the hospital several times, and the doctor said he has phenylketonuria. So, can phenylketonuria be cured?Doctor's answer:
A low-protein diet is used to keep phenylalanine levels in the blood consistently between 0.23-0.6 mmol/L. Children can be fed low-phenylalanine food supplements while digesting breast milk and cow's milk. Breast milk contains about 40 mg of phenylalanine per 100 ml, and cow's milk contains 50 mg per 30 ml. Special foods that interfere with phenylalanine absorption are expensive and difficult to implement. Dietary treatment that interferes with phenylalanine absorption in the diet has not yet reached a consensus on when it can be stopped, and it is generally believed that it must be endured for 10 years.