Nunavut babies at risk of preventable low blood sugar condition: research – Nunatsiaq News
June 11, 2015
Info available for B.C. First Nations parents, but not in Nunavut
OULU, FINLAND — No newborn screening program or easy-to-access information for parents or health staff is yet available in Nunavut to help prevent life-threatening health reactions that could affect the majority of babies born in the territory.
But this information is already available in British Columbia to health workers and First Nations families, whose babies share the same variant of an important enzyme called CPT1a.
Seven in 10 infants in the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq regions of Nunavut and about half of the babies from the Baffin region are born with this variant of the CPT1a enzyme, which helps the body process fats for energy.
Here’s the problem.
