What should I do if my child smells fishy?

In our lives, people love to eat fish. No matter it is fish from the sea or freshwater fish, it will emit a fishy smell when cleaning. This is very normal. If a fishy smell appears on people's bodies, it indicates illness. Many parents find that their babies have a strong fishy smell. So, what should they do if their children have a fishy smell?

Trimethylamine (TMA) is an amine with the smell of rotten fish. It is especially found in egg yolks, beans and saltwater fish. Patients with trimethylaminuria (TMA) are unable to metabolize TMA, which causes their breath, urine, sweat and glandular secretions to emit the rotten fish smell of TMA, hence the name. Patients with this disease often have a bad smell caused by abnormal TMA metabolism (not just fish smell) after birth, and the smell will be more severe after eating TMA precursors such as egg yolks, animal offal (liver and kidneys), bean pods, soybeans and saltwater fish. The smell of TMA may be more noticeable after exercise or when you are depressed, and in women during puberty, menstruation, and perimenopause.

Pathological analysis

TMA comes from common food. During the N-oxygenation in the liver, it is successfully metabolized into odorless trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) through the catalysis of the FMO3 enzyme (flavin-containing monooxygenase 3). Due to the defect of the FMO3 gene (flavin-containing monooxygenase 3 gene) at position 23-25 ​​on the long arm of the patient's first pair of chromosomes (1q23-q25), the activity of the FMO3 enzyme is insufficient and TMA cannot be metabolized smoothly.

Apart from the unpleasant odor, people with this syndrome are usually of normal intelligence and good health, but the stinky fish smell often hinders their learning and social activities.

Treatment

In daily life, patients can reduce body odor by paying attention to the following diet and lifestyle:

1. In terms of food, it is advisable to avoid foods that produce TMA precursors; among choline foods, it is advisable to avoid eating eggs (especially egg yolks), animal offal (liver and kidneys), legumes, beans (such as soybeans), nuts (such as peanuts), brassica vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, kale), spinach, lettuce, brewer's yeast, whole grains and saltwater fish. The TMA content of freshwater fish is lower and is usually less restricted. In addition, nutritional supplements such as lecithin and fish oil should be avoided.

2. You can take riboflavin to increase the activity of the remaining FMO3 enzyme, and you can consume activated carbon and chlorophyll preparations to reduce the accumulation of TMA in the intestines.

3. In addition, antibiotics can be used as appropriate to inhibit bacteria in the intestines. If necessary (such as when there are important social events), laxatives can be used to reduce TMA in the intestines.

4. You can use weakly acidic (pH 5.5~6.5) soaps and lotions to reduce unpleasant odors on the skin.