Contents of newborn blood screening

The health of babies is what many parents are most worried about. Many babies will have their heel prick blood taken for examination 72 hours after birth. However, many parents always feel distressed because their babies are still young, and they are also afraid of causing harm to their babies' bodies. In fact, heel prick blood is used to detect some congenital diseases, such as thyroid disease and intellectual development, so that if they can be discovered in time, better treatment effects can be achieved. Let's learn about the content of newborn blood screening below.

Contents of newborn blood screening

Congenital hypothyroidism

Congenital hypothyroidism, commonly known as "cretinism", is a disease caused by reduced or complete lack of thyroid hormone secretion. Babies with congenital hypothyroidism usually have the characteristics of late birth (not born more than 2 weeks after the due date), overweight (baby birth weight exceeds 4 kg), prolonged jaundice (jaundice disappears more slowly than normal babies), and are accompanied by symptoms such as umbilical hernia, less crying and constipation. If there is no timely intervention and treatment, the baby will further show a series of growth and development delays such as short stature and mental retardation as he grows older.

Prognosis of congenital hypothyroidism The earlier the patient with congenital hypothyroidism is treated, the better the prognosis. The gradual development of newborn disease screening makes it possible for patients to be diagnosed and treated 1 to 3 weeks after birth. Once diagnosed, immediate treatment is needed. Most cases treated early can achieve a higher IQ. If obvious intrauterine hypothyroidism is found at birth, such as significantly delayed bone age, extremely low T4 levels, thyroid deficiency, etc., it is highly dangerous to affect IQ and is likely to leave behind neurological sequelae.

Phenylketonuria

Babies with phenylketonuria cannot convert phenylalanine into tyrosine because their liver cells lack phenylalanine-4-hydroxylase (PAH), which causes a large accumulation of phenylalanine in the baby's body and causes the disease. Babies with this disease will have an unpleasant rat-like odor in their urine and their hair will be particularly thin and yellow. If treatment is delayed, the intellectual damage to the baby will be irreversible. Special note: Newborn heel blood screening is a group screening examination and the possibility of individual cases being missed cannot be ruled out. Therefore, even if the baby passes the screening, if any abnormal symptoms of the above diseases appear, you should go to the hospital for treatment in time.

If early diagnosis and early treatment are available, the aforementioned clinical manifestations may not occur, intelligence may return to normal, and EEG abnormalities may also be restored. Once the diagnosis is clear, active treatment should be given as soon as possible, mainly diet therapy. The younger the age at which treatment is started, the better the results. 1. Low phenylalanine diet: Therefore, infants can be fed with special low-phenylalanine milk powder. When adding complementary foods in early childhood, low-protein foods such as starch, vegetables, and fruits should be the main ones. Dietary control should continue at least until after puberty.

The above is an introduction to newborn blood screening. After understanding it, we know that newborn blood screening is generally necessary. This way, when a disease occurs in the body, early treatment can reduce the suffering of many diseases during the child's growth. Therefore, after the baby is born, you must cooperate with the doctor in time for blood tests.