Enzyme replacement therapy is a treatment that replaces a deficient or absent enzyme.
Enzymes are catalysts that facilitate chemical reactions. Enzymes are not included in the product, they only increase the speed. Without enzymes, many chemical reactions are too slow to sustain life.
Enzyme replacement therapy relieves symptoms caused by an enzyme deficiency. Enzyme replacement therapy has been proven to improve symptoms of these health conditions:
- Fabry disease
- Gaucher disease
- mucopolysaccharidoses
- glycogen storage disease
Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy is used by some suffering with cystic fibrosis. They replace enzymes that are blocked from being released by the pancreas for digestion.
Other digestion related health conditions may benefit from enzyme replacement therapy as well, for instance:
- food allergies
- malabsorption
- lactose intolerance
- chronic pancreatitis
And there’s no scientific evidence that healthy individuals benefit from enzyme supplements.