.

Home | Health | Conditions

All About Citrullinemia: How to Test For It and What You Can Do

By: Brenda Stoke

While citrulline is a necessary component of the human body that helps to process ammonia in the urea cycle, some people have conditions that make processing the amino acid a real problem.

Citrullinemia is a genetic disorder that is inherited from your parents. The disorder is caused by a lack of an enzyme that is necessary in order to process and remove nitrogen from the body. This enzyme is called argininosuccinate synthetase. Without this enzyme, the nitrogen accumulates in the blood in the form of ammonia. The condition of having too much ammonia in the blood is called hyperammonemia.

There are two types of citrullinemia: Type 1 and Type 2. Citrullinemia Type 1 is diagnosed in infants and children. Common symptoms include:

- Vomiting
- Lethargy
- Lack of appetite
- Coma
- Enlarged liver
- Poor growth
- Breathing problems

Citrullinemia Type 2 is diagnosed in adults and is typically caused by the onset of a liver disorder during infancy called neonatal intrahepatic cholestasis. Common symptoms present in adults include:

- Ammonia intoxication
- Vomiting
- Altered behavior
- Seizure
- Coma
- Mental retardation

Citrullinemia is diagnosed typically at birth, but it can be discovered later on during tests that identify the levels of citrulline present in the body. These tests usually involve chromatography.

The key to successful citrullinemia treatment is early diagnosis. Prompt treatment can help prevent the accumulation of ammonia in the blood and even death. The most common treatments used include:

- Low-protein diet
- Monitoring blood tests
- Medications

A low-protein diet is probably the most important part of treatment. You will more than likely need to eliminate foods like fish, eggs, poultry, meat, milk, cheese, legumes, nuts, and beans. However, protein is still a necessary part of your diet. You cannot eliminate it completely. This is why having an experienced metabolic doctor treating you is so important. A dietician is equally important in ensuing that you or your child obtains the nutrients he or she needs without exacerbating the disease.

While citrulline is a necessary component of the human body that helps to process ammonia in the urea cycle, some people have conditions that make processing the amino acid a real problem. Citrullinemia is a genetic disorder that is inherited from your parents. The disorder is caused by a lack of an enzyme that is necessary in order to process and remove nitrogen from the body.

This article is written by Brenda Stokes. TestCountry Health Guide Too Much Citrulline Testing and main source of this article is taken from related health wellness, vitamin testing pages at Citrullinemia Detection & Testing

Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com. PositiveArticles.Com does not vouch for or necessarily endorse the contents of this article.


If you are copying this article for publishing on a website or ezine, please use the "Ezine Ready" button from the righthand menu.



More Articles In This Category

Use XML Icon above to access Conditions articles Via RSS
Sign Up for author account
Home
Submit Articles
Member Login
Guidelines and Terms
Article RSS Feeds
Search This Site
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Articles Blog
Get our free daily e-tips:

-> Self Improvement
-> Diet & Exercise
Web Resources

-> NLP