What is a heel blood test? When should an infant take it?

Heel blood test for newborns is always recommended by pediatricians to parents to easily screen for diseases in children. But until now, many parents still do not know what this method is and what its benefits are? Let’s find out with Tnhelearning.edu.vn.

What is the Newborn Heel Blood Test?

The heel blood test is a way to screen for some rare but serious disorders that can affect a child’s health and development. Thereby helping doctors and parents have the best treatment for the baby.

The best time to do this test is from 24-72 hours after the baby is born, and the results will be back in 10-14 days. This is a completely free and optional test , but parents are still advised by doctors to do it to avoid bad cases happening to their children’s health.

Heel blood test in children

What diseases does a heel blood test help detect?

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

This is a form of syndrome of amino acid metabolism disorders, specifically phenylalanine in children. This disease will cause children some intellectual disabilities and difficulties in learning in the future. In addition, the heel blood test also helps detect some of the following disorders:

• MCAD Deficiency: Impedes the Conversion of Fat to Energy
• Syrup of urine: Gives urine a sweet smell Homocystinuria
• Detected 5 amino acid metabolism disorders, 8 organic acid disorders, 6 fatty acid disorders

Phenylketonuria disease

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH)

It is an endocrine disorder in newborns that prevents the normal development of the thyroid gland leading to hormone deficiency, usually occurring in 1 in 3,500 children. If this disease is not treated in time, it can cause growth retardation in the baby.

Hypothyroidism can be controlled with timely control

Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes mucus in the lungs and intestines to thicken and stick together, interfering with the functioning of other parts of the body. This can lead to a number of dangerous diseases such as lung infections, liver and bile diseases, etc., which seriously affect children’s health.

In fact, there is still no specific cure for this disease, but if the heel blood test helps doctors detect this disease earlier in children, there are still treatments for the baby to develop healthier.

Cystic fibrosis has a serious impact on children

Galactic metabolism disorder

One of the diseases that a heel blood test can detect is a disorder of galactose metabolism. Causes the body to accumulate this type of sugar in the body and can be fatal. Early detection will help doctors have timely and prompt treatment.

Treating early glucose disorders for babies

Sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease is a disease that causes red blood cells inside the body to become hard, sticky, sickle-shaped and unable to carry oxygen. Leads to complications that cause growth retardation in children. Therefore, early detection of this disease is extremely important and it is necessary to perform a heel test from an early age.

Detecting sickle cell disease in children

The above article is the information about the heel blood test in babies that parents need to know. Hope the article will be useful and don’t forget to follow Tnhelearning.edu.vn for more good knowledge!

Source: HelloBacsi

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