Term Papers on Phenylketonuria

Term Paper Title	Phenylketonuria
# of Words	517
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.07

Phenylketonuria

By Tyler Fortune
Biology,  8th hour

Phenylketonuria or PKU is one of many genetic disorders. It is a metabolic disease that is caused by not enough of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase.  This disease causes high levels of phenylalanine in the blood.  The high levels of phynylalanine leads to mental retardation and brain damage. It is most often called PKU, but it is also called:  Folling disease, Phenylalaninemia, and Phenylpyruvic Oligophrenia.
     Phenylketonuria occurs in one out of every fourteen thousand live births.  One infant out of every sixty live births is a carrier of phenylketonuria with no symptoms. Phenylketonuria usually doesn’t occur in Finland, Japan, among Jews of Eastern European decent, or among blacks.  Although phenylketonuria isn’t common,  the impairments caused by the disease are serious and preventable.  Therefore, most states require a PKU testing at birth. Since phenylalanine levels the may be normal at birth, a second test is advisable.
Some of the symptoms at birth might be a lazy baby with slow responses. The infant may not feed well.  Other symptoms include vomiting,  irritability, skin rashes, and a musty or mousy body odor.
If phenylketonuria is detected early, the symptoms can be prevented. If the disease is undetected and/or untreated,  the children usually develop mental and physical retardation with a short stature, increased muscle tone.  They are awkward or clumsy.  People with the disease almost always have light hair and a fair complexion.  They often have widely spaced teeth and less dental enamel which increases their susceptibility to serious cavities and early loss of teeth.  Children with phenylketonuria...

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