Nutritional,
Hereditary and Metabolic Diseases
Metabolism is the means by which the body derives energy and
synthesizes 
the other molecules it
needs from the fats, carbohydrates and proteins we eat as food,
by enzymatic reactions helped by minerals and vitamins.
Metabolic diseases are caused by errors in metabolic processes, however there is actually a significant level of tolerance of errors in the system: often, a mutation in one enzyme does not mean that the individual will suffer from a disease. A number of different enzymes may compete to modify the same molecule, and there may be more than one way to achieve the same end result for a variety of metabolic intermediates. Disease will only occur if a critical enzyme is disabled, or if a control mechanism for a metabolic pathway is affected.
For example, Phenykentonuria is a disease with the deficiency of the PKU enzyme.
Hereditary diseases such as Hemophilia involve missing essential blood clotting factors which leads to excess bleeding and lack of ability for blood to coagulate normally. Primary Immune Globulin deficiency is the lack of certain immune globulins in the body that help protect from infections.
Many metabolic and hereditary diseases do not have a treatment, other than to modify dietary intake to avoid the substance that the body cannot metabolize. Others have no treatment, but supportive therapy can help sustain life. Some of the metabolic and hereditary diseases that can be treated with supportive therapy by home infusion include:
For more information, please visit the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) web site for more information on metabolic and nutritional diseases.
For more information on Enteral Nutrition and Parenteral Nutrition (PEN) please visit the Oley Foundation.
HomeCare I.V. of Bend, Inc. has earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval™.
