Saturday 12 July 2014

Treatment of OTC deficiency

The treatment of OTC deficiency can be split into 3 ways of treatment.


The first way, is dietary plans for the patient given by the doctor. This includes immediate temporary discontinuation of specific protein intake, and an increase of carbohydrate and lipids intake to compensate for the lack of those proteins. These foods has to provide the patient with essential amino acids while limiting the intake of non essential amino acids. 

Essential amino acids include Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan and Valine. Some examples of diets of OTC deficient patients, especially babies, include breast milk from a mother or cow’s milk formulate which is an essential amino acid formula.

For adults who suffer from OTC deficiency can take in essential amino acids from foods such as eggs, meat, soybeans and quinoa. More information can be found at this link http://www.livestrong.com/article/249606-foods-high-in-essential-amino-acids/ .






The second way is to have medical care administered to the patient. This includes the first step of temporarily stopping intake of specific proteins and compensating with more carbohydrates and lipids.


Patients with extremely high levels of ammonia in their system due to the OTC deficiency would also require hemodialysis to remove them. On top of that, IV drips of sodium benzoate, arginine and sodium phenylacetate would also be given to the patient to aid with the OTC deficiency.

Ammonia, which is formed when proteins are broken down in the body, is toxic if the levels become too high. The main aim of the medical treatment is to prevent this from happening or reducing the amount.





The final way of dealing with OTC deficiency is to have a liver transplant, this is the last resort of the treatment for OTC because of the apparent dangers that it poses to both the patient and the donor. However if done successfully, would cure the patient of OTC deficiency. However due to the nature of the surgery, it can be quite dangerous, especially for children. Therefore this method is only considered as the last resort and a specialist should be consulted before making any decisions.



sources


http://www.livestrong.com/article/249606-foods-high-in-essential-amino-acids/


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