Two women unite to create charity raising awareness of rare fructose intolerance disorder

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A Sunshine Coast woman is on a mission to raise awareness about a rare genetic disorder where sufferers can't eat sugar. She's one of just four people in Queensland with the condition. But experts warn there could be more as it's often misdiagnosed.

Transcript

00:00Corinne Lawson studies food labels more intently than most for good reason.

00:07What can happen with too much fructose is you can end up hyperglycemic, end up in a coma.

00:14The Sunshine Coast woman never liked the taste of sugar, fruit and many vegetables made her feel sick.

00:20I got a lot of my energy from just a plain carton of milk growing up.

00:23After countless visits to specialists, she finally discovered she has hereditary fructose intolerance, or HFI, a few years ago.

00:32Those with the genetic disorder can't process fructose, sucrose and sorbitol.

00:37It's in everything, toothpaste, cough lozenges, chewing gum.

00:42Ms Lawson receives treatment at Martyr Health in Brisbane.

00:46Dr Liza Phillips says acute exposure to fructose for HFI patients can lead to death.

00:52Long term exposure to fructose can result in more chronic conditions, so it can cause liver and kidney damage.

01:00Sydney mother Christina Thacker has two children with HFI.

01:04Her son was initially misdiagnosed when he couldn't keep formula down.

01:08It just made him so sick and he would just scream all night long.

01:12An estimated one in 20,000 people worldwide have HFI,

01:17but because it is so rare and many medical professionals are not even aware of it,

01:22that number could be higher.

01:24That's why the women have created the charity HFI Support Australia

01:28to provide information and push for genetic screening and better food labelling.

01:33Seeing first hand how much sugar is put into every single food stuff

01:38has just opened up my eyes and my family's eyes.

01:42They also share fructose free recipes.

01:44It was really important for me that the kids felt like they were included in celebrations,

01:50like everybody else.

01:51Having their cake and eating it too.

01:53Lots of practice.

01:55So we're done talking about it,

01:56keep see how close they have finished their meals then,

01:58at least they are making these colours.

02:00This любовь statewide dependent for people who could find them

02:01inside to family.

02:02Here she is a young państwa there,

02:03you can keep using fuels,

02:04especially if they have a good time of wine.

02:06менее,

02:20you get to have harmony with the childcare

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