Congenital disorders
Congenital disorders are conditions or diseases that you are born with. Some are hereditary, others are not.
Most babies are born healthy. Only a small number of children are born with a congenital condition. Most of them are metabolic or hormonal disorders.
In Flanders there is a population survey in which sixteen congenital disorders are detected early . These are rare but serious conditions that often do not immediately cause symptoms at birth. Since 2019, cystic fibrosis has also been detected.
What are symptoms?
The newborn baby usually appears perfectly healthy at birth. Symptoms sometimes occur quite soon after birth, sometimes only much later.
After a while it becomes increasingly clear that something is seriously wrong. Characteristic of congenital disorders is that damage becomes more severe as time passes.
What actually goes wrong depends on the disease. This often concerns brain injuries, serious disabilities, chronic diseases, and sometimes also sudden death.
What can you do?
If these conditions are diagnosed early enough , they can usually be treated easily and effectively . In this way, damage to health can be prevented or the disease process can be slowed down.
Early detection and treatment ensure an increased quality of life and a better prognosis of the disease.
Population survey
To detect sixteen diseases at an early stage, the Flemish government organizes the Population Survey for Congenital Disorders.
Elise Rummens
Elise is onze huisdokter. Haar stokpaardje op het vlak van gezondheid is beweging. Daarom zie je haar op dinsdagavond springen, vliegen, duiken, vallen en weer opstaan. Dan heeft ze haar wekelijkse parkourtraining.
Preventie-arts CM