Add one--Mental Retardation

The scientists' main task now is to find out why some people have too
much amino acid in their systems. They are attacking the problem from many angles.
While Dr. Waisman concentrates on the intricate functioning of amino acids,
a second member of the team, Dr. Theo Gerritsen, studies various abnormal chemicals
in the human body. A third member, Dr. Frank L. Siegel, is in charge of experiments
to discover how various amino acids affect brain development.
While PKU is an inheritable cause of mental retardation, it is not the
only one. Others range from the metabolic to the acquired, such as brain
inflammation and infections. But Dr. Waisman and his associates feel that P1W is
about the most difficult to treat once the brain has matured. Early diagnosis and
prompt treatment are, therefore, essential.
He says things like poor nourishment and premature births also contribute
to most milder forms of retardation. In fact, he feels that "prematurity is probably
one of the most common causes of the minimally brain damaged and mentally retarded
child, and more than 50 per cent of prematures do have some degree of developmental
retardation."
Dr. Waisman says one of the most serious obstacles to successfully
preventing inheritable mental retardation is prematurely discharging newborn babies
from hospitals before those destined to inherit PKU can be identified. Such
premature discharge is made when the child has not had enough milk intake to enable
the doctor to get meaningful results from tests for the disease in accordance with
legal requirements.
A Wisconsin law requires all newborn babies be tested in the hospital
before they are discharged. But in most cases, the test is given about three days
after the baby's birth, which is too early.

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