Carl Richards talks about PKU in his family

This is a photo essay on Carl Richards and its a down to earth look at his life looking after his son that has Phenylketonuria (PKU) which is a rare inherited condition in which there is a build up of phenylalanine in the body.

Please give feed back after viewing i would be interested in your comments

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• Phenylketonuria
• (PKU);
• Carl
• Richards;
• Isle
• of
• man;
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• Essay;
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• Craig
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[cushion25]

OMG so great!!!! the way you´re talking reveals a tender loving and caring attitude which is the best one to have as a father. I wish you all the best with your children and a happy life full of joy for yourself and your wife!

[littlestsweetpea]

PKU does not cause ADHD, however if a person is not on diet, the build up of phe does cause neurological disorders. These disorders are similar to depression, anxiety, ADHD, ADD, bipolarism. So maintaining a diet is essential. It only takes a couple of weeks of being off diet for the phe levels to be high. Fortunately going back on diet can help to eliminate these neurological problems, so long as the child's brain fully developed when they were young.

[littlestsweetpea]

PKU does not cause ADHD, however if a person is not on diet, the build up of phe does cause neurological disorders. These disorders are similar to depression, anxiety, ADHD, ADD, bipolarism. So maintaining a diet is essential.

[CJEB4]

Some people are also under the impression that both parents have to also have PKU, but that is not true. The retardation is seen mostly in undiagnosed babies, or children who's parents don't follow the strict diet.

[stballin]

. I thought that the buildup of Phe is dangerous in the fact that it causes saturation of the LNAA transporters and causes profound retardation, not ADHD symptoms. If I am in some way mistaken in my conclusions I welcome correcting comments. Thank you. Also, sorry about the same post twice :)

[stballin]

I was under the impression that the symptoms of ADHD in individuals with PKU was not due to elevated levels of Phe, but was in fact due to the individuals inability to produce adequate tyrosine from Phe. This being the case because tyrosine is a precursor to noradrenaline which along with dopamine (in which tyrosine is converted into the rate limiting enzyme that produces dopamine) play a major role in the function of concentration.

[stballin]

I was under the impression that the symptoms of ADHD in individuals with PKU was not due to elevated levels of Phe, but was in fact due to the individuals inability to produce adequate tyrosine from Phe. This being the case because tyrosine is a precursor to noradrenaline which along with dopamine (in which tyrosine is converted into the rate limiting enzyme that produces dopamine) play a major role in the function of concentration.

[Breamarie91]

Wonderful video :)

It's great to see that you have such a positive outlook towards PKU. A positive attitude goes a long way!

DefeatADDnow is right though. Children with PKU only risk having ADD and ADHD if they have high phe levels for a prolonged time.

[Mssallymiranda]

What a positive outlook! Well done for making and posting this video. It will undoubtedly help those who have just found out their baby has PKU and show that life can still be 'normal' even when circumstances don't seem to be.

[tabitha126]

i have pku myself and it is a hard diet to follow and my parents found it hard to deal with it but as time gose on it dose get easier and alot of the medicines he will have to take when he is older (theres so many they all do the same job but with diffrent tastes and flavours) experiment first and get one he likes and try and make sure he sticks to his diet i never at first and what i went through was hard as i was over emotional