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the Nutricia Blog

  • Maternal PKU – Part 2: Twins

    This is part 2 of Angela’s story on PKU and Pregnancy.... Read more

  • Maternal PKU – Part 1

    During a recent study day in London, Angela Thomas shared her experience of tackling the subject of PKU and Pregnancy.... Read more

  • Specific nutrition as an integrated part of pressure ulcer care

    Pressure ulcers are a common problem in all healthcare sectors, affecting quality of life and increasing healthcare costs. Providing sufficient amounts of protein... Read more

  • Targeting immunity: an illustration of HIV disease

    Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) results in progressive destruction of the immune system, ultimately resulting in opportunistic infections and AIDS. HIV-infection, affecting 40 million ... Read more

  • Immunopharmacology of non-digestible carbohydrates, a breakthrough for clinical nutrition?

    Early in human history, nutrition and pharmacology were closely linked as people derived their medicines ... Read more

Latest happenings from the Nutricia blog

Cows Milk – Allergy or intolerance?

Monday, October 6th, 2008

There is often great confusion regarding cow’s milk allergy (CMA) and Lactose Intolerance, with the terms often used interchangeably despite both being separate disorders and very distinct. As described above, food allergies such as cow’s milk allergy are a form of food intolerance that involves the immune system. Lactose intolerance describes a form of food intolerance caused by deficiency of a specific enzyme and does not involve the immune system

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Ketogenic Diet – A History

Monday, October 6th, 2008

The Ketogenic diet is not by all means a new treatment. Claims for a dietary treatment of epilepsy are very old, (even before any anticonvulsants were available). Earlier attempts to a diet for epilepsy include: salt restriction, protein restriction, acid-ash diets, water restriction (to provoke dehydration), etc. There is even a reference to fasting as a “cure” for seizures in the Bible.

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Birmingham Children’s Hospital IMD Games 2008

Monday, September 29th, 2008

On the 28th September 2008, over 100 children converged at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, to participate in a special day. What made the day so special was that the children participating had all been affected in one way or another, by an Inborn Metabolic Disease.

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The Importance of Low Protein Cookery Sessions For Parents and Patients

Friday, September 26th, 2008

Fun was had by all who attended the Nutricia Low Protein Living Cookery Sessions and Activity Days throughout July, August and September 2008. In the Republic of Ireland, Nutricia held a Low Living Cookery Session in Dublin and Waterford, and a Low Protein Living Activity Day in Imaginosity in Dublin.

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Low Protein Cooking

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

The Nutrition and Dietetic department at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Yorkhill), Glasgow, ran another successful Low Protein Cooking session at a local Secondary School. This is the initiative of Barbara Cochrane, the Senior Paediatric Dietitian at the Hospital. She has been doing this for over 18 months now. It is designed to teach individuals new cooking skills  and allow them to network together in an informal way, sharing the experience of bringing up a child (or children) with PKU or other related metabolic diseases.

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SSIEM

Monday, September 8th, 2008

The SSIEM (Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism) put on another great symposium in Lisbon. They do this every year to discuss the latest results of scientific investigation related to Inborn Errors of Metabolism.

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Cows milk allergy? Any advice?

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

This is my first blog and I’m doing it to see if anyone has any useful information they can give me. Let me tell you the problem, my 6 year old son was born with to the symptoms he has now.He was diagnosed with a CMA after showing severe colitis when he was about a week old. He was put on Neocate and after a year we weaned him back on cow’s milk. He showed no colitis so they said he’d outgrown the allergy.
Not long after this he developed an ear infection that for 18 months  would not clear up. He had tubes put in to allow drainage. They were taken out 2 years later and they said that should be the end of his problems.

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Inherited Metabolic Disorders

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Inherited Metabolic Disorders are rare but there are over 1000 known types. Such disorders are treatable with special diets (in some cases drug therapy may also be used).

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Getting back ‘on diet’ – PKU

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Hi my name is Andrew i am 36 years old, when i was younger i was on a strict diet which was controlled by my mum. When i got to my teens, the doctors wanted me off the diet. When the doctors told me this i said no. I was to used to the diet (low pro) however over the years things started to slip away till i was not on the diet.

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PKU and the 3 R’s

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

I remember when I first started seeing my dietitian on my return to the diet, sounds a bit like a movie title! PKU and the return of the Diet!! She explained to me that to help maintain consistently low blood Phe levels, management will involve a three-pronged approach known as the 3 R’s: Record, Restrict, and Replace. I must Record the amount of Phe I consume, Restrict my diet to the right amount of low-Phe foods, and replace those higher-Phe foods with low-Phe alternatives, such as Phe-free protein supplements like Lophlex and Add-ins. I know this type of management is not a cure, but it has been effective in helping to prevent many of the symptoms of PKU in myself such as the drowsiness and bad temper. So remember the 3 R’s: Record, Restrict, and Replace.

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