Understanding how metabolism works.
Metabolism is like the operating system of a computer. It is composed of chemical reactions that occur in our body like computer programs. There are programs to send messages, improve photographs or do mathematical calculations, just as there are chemical reactions to adjust body temperature, transmit messages to neurons or release glucose into the blood when we are “low on batteries”.
Each animal has its own metabolism, just as each computer model has its own operating system. This is why humans cannot dissolve cellulose, while other animals, such as cows, can. These metabolic reactions specific to each animal species are stored in the hard disk of the cells, i.e. the genes.
But just as a pen drive sometimes comes defective from the factory or an error occurs when loading some information, some people do not have the gene that makes the protein (called an enzyme) capable of controlling a particular chemical reaction. This leads to some people suffering from congenital diseases.
Among these deficiencies are some lactose intolerances, the inability to digest alcohol, diseases due to accumulation of iron (hemochromatosis) or copper (Wilson’s) and the lack of “glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase” in red blood cells, commonly called “favism”.
How is favism triggered?
The hemoglobin in red blood cells is responsible for carrying oxygen, which would oxidize it if it were not for a substance called G6FD (glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase). This substance thus prevents hemoglobin from being oxidized by the oxygen it carries. In people suffering from favism, the lack of G6FD causes hemoglobin to oxidize and break down, leading to anemia.
There are foods and drugs that are particularly oxidizing, such as aspirin or beans, which can trigger sudden anemia. The breakdown of red blood cells releases bilirubin, a yellowish bile pigment that floods the blood and is therefore responsible for the yellowing of the skin and conjunctivae in patients with favism.
For this reason, there are many patients who confuse favism with acute hepatitis. Even so, the gastroenterologist must be able to think of a deficiency of an antioxidant substance (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase).
How to treat favismus?
This disease remits on its own, with a usually rapid recovery, as long as the patient does not repeat the exposure to these oxidizing foods. In addition to aspirin and fava beans, inhalation of pollen, fava bean-fed goat’s milk and other drugs that may contain the plant in their composition should be avoided.