Marilyn,
 
There are only symptoms of galactosemia at birth - low blood sugar levels,
jaundice, loss of weight. Once a lactose-free diet is started (Hugh had a
soy formula, then was later switched to Nutramigen) the infant starts to
thrive. These days galactosemia is generally picked up within the first
three weeks of life. If it remains undetected it results in severe
developmental delays. Here in Australia, and in many states of the USA (but
not all, I believe), galactosemia is screened for at birth along with
things like cystic fybrosis and PKU. The incidence is about 1 in 50,000
births.
 
As I said in my earlier post, I expect that Hugh would now have no symptoms
at all from ingesting milk products, although I'm not game to perform the
experiment.
 
The blood tests he has are for the levels of galactose and of
galactose-1-phosphate (this is the toxic metabolite) in his blood. There is
also some sort of test for the effectiveness of the enzyme involved
(galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase) which both my husband and I as
well as Hugh had when he was born. Hugh was found to have no detectable
level of the enzyme, and my husband and I both had about 50% effectiveness.
 
Elaine
 
>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]
>
 
_____________________________________________________________________
Elaine Lally
Media and Cultural Studies
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
UWS Nepean, PO Box 10, Kingswood, NSW 2747
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