Dumbing us Down

Perhaps the most stunning revelation to come from my trip to Westmead last Tuesday came from the dietitian. Mary always seems disorganized and somewhat eccentric but I have never doubted that she knows what she's talking about. I would always trust what she told me and this came from her. The bar has been raise (or lowered, depends how you look at it) in relation to acceptable blood phenylalanine levels. Apparently it just too hard, so it's been made more achievable. Well excuse me if we find it hard. Boo Hoo!! Of course it's hard. At least someone's finally acknowledging that it is hard now, I guess. But how, exactly is this supposed to help people? Australia already seem to have one of the highest acceptable blood ranges in the world, so why make it higher? Are we all doing so brilliantly well, or do too many of us say we're 'fine' when the doctor asks us how we are? I for one know that my GP, who is still very 'hands off' in regards to pku will see this as another reason not to get involved. Suddenly a blood count that was once considered too high is alright, the thing is, nothing's changed, just a doctor's perception. I am quite concerned about the effect that this will have on individuals now and in the future. With all that we know now about the effects that pku can have on someone's quality of life, our hospital goes and does this to us. I see this as a step backwards in the treatment of pku.