16mo diagnosed, do I test other child?

[heatherp]

Hi,
my 16 month old was just diagnosed with HFI with genetic testing and is very symptomatic, although we are hoping to see a very positive change.  Do I have my four year old tested also?  And Is there any follow up testing or protocol that should be done?  They checked liver enzymes which were fine.  Also, is there a "crash course" for the newly diagnosed (or for the momma in this case, I guess)?

[colormist]

In order for a child to have HFI, both his parents have to pass on a recessive gene. Each of your children have a 50% chance of being an HFI gene carrier and a 25% chance of having both HFI genes from both parents. (If one of the parents has HFI, then they have a 100% chance of passing on the gene because they carry both genes.) A child would need to have both genes (one from the mom, one from the dad) in order to have the HFI medical condition.

Each of your children have a 25% chance of having full-blown HFI and a 50% chance of just being a carrier (like both of their parents). If they're a carrier, then they should have a diet similar to their parents.

That being said, you should be able to easily tell (now that you have a diagnosis for another child) if your four year old has HFI as they will exhibit similar dietary preferences and symptoms.

My parents had four children. One child died shortly after birth. Of the three remaining children, two refused sugar and sweets from birth. I sought diagnosis when I was in my 20's. My brother (who has a similar dietary preference) never sought diagnosis. My sister eats all manner of confectioneries with the same fervor I show when avoiding those same foods.

I don't think there's a crash course. This forum is just about the best thing I've found for HFI. I started a blog a few years after joining this forum to share information I had gathered. This resources page might be helpful to you: fructose-free.tumblr.com/resources