Elaine,
  Are the symptoms of galactose the same as lactose intolerance?
  What is name of blood test done for galactose?
  Thanks for any info.
 
  Marilyn            [log in to unmask]
 
 
>
> Dear Dawn, Sandy and others who may have been wondering ...
>
> Galactosemia is a rare enzyme deficiency which results in sufferers being
> unable to metabolize galactose, which is one of the components of lactose.
> The galactose is partially metabolized to a toxic by-product, which can
> then build up in the body causing developmental problems for children with
> this condition.
>
> Treatment is by totally excluding sources of galactose from the diet, which
> in practice means excluding lactose, since free galactose doesn't occur in
> very many foods. Hence my reason for joining this list. My 3-year-old son
> Hugh has galactosemia. I spend a lot of time telling people that Hugh's
> problem is _not_ lactose intolerance, which many people seem to have some
> knowledge of, and a lot of time reading the ingredients lists of the food
> that we buy (which I guess that many of you on this list must also spend a
> lot of time doing).
>
> In case you wanted more detail on what actually goes wrong ...
>
> The lactose is broken down into its components glucose and galactose, and
> the galactose is then supposed to be converted (through a fairly convoluted
> chemical route) to glucose, mainly in the liver. In galactosemia, one of
> the intermediate stages in this process is blocked (because the enzyme
> which catalyzes the reaction is inoperative). There would be no visible
> reaction to ingestion of milk products, but over a period of time the
> damage would be done. Hugh has blood tests every three months to make sure
> that the condition is well controlled.
>
> Thank you Dawn and Sandy for being interested ...
>
> Cheers,
>
> Elaine
>
> **************************************************************************
> *  Elaine Lally                                                          *
> *        http://www.nepean.uws.edu.au/humanities/postgradstud/pg_elally/ *
> *  Humanities and Social Sciences                                        *
> *  University of Western Sydney, Nepean                                  *
> *  PO Box 10, Kingswood            *!* Please note - new email address *!*
> *  NSW, Australia  2747              [log in to unmask]  *
> **************************************************************************