Zinc Deficiency

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http://www.mercola.com/2003/mar/12/zinc_deficiency.htm

 

Zinc Deficiency

 

By Dr. Ananda S Prasad

 

In 1974 the Food and Nutrition Board of the U. S. National Academy of

Sciences made a landmark decision, to declare zinc an essential nutrient and

establish recommended dietary allowances for humans.

 

Later, including zinc in total parenteral nutrition fluids was made

mandatory, which undoubtedly saved many lives. Dietary zinc deficiency is

very prevalent in the developing world (affecting nearly 2 billion people)

where mainly cereals are consumed by the population. A meta-analysis of 33

prospective intervention trials of zinc supplementation and its effects on

children's growth in many countries showed that zinc supplementation alone

had a statistically significant effect on linear growth and body weight

gain, indicating that other deficiencies that may have been present were not

responsible for growth retardation.

 

Zinc supplementation has been shown to improve neuropsychological functions

in Chinese children with zinc deficiency. It reduces the incidence and

duration of acute and chronic diarrhea and acute lower respiratory tract

infections in children in developing countries, resulting in decreased

mortality. Zinc deficiency in pregnant women causes:

 

Abnormal labor Retarded fetal growth Fetal abnormalities

 

The immunological effects of zinc deficiency during the early 1960s were not

known, although I knew that patients with zinc deficiency in the Middle East

died of infection before the age of 25 (personal observation). It has now

been shown that in people with zinc deficiency:

 

Activity of serum thymulin (a thymus specific hormone involved in T cell

function) is decreased An imbalance between T helper cell (Th1) and Th2

function develops Lytic activity of natural killer cells and the percentage

of precursors of cytolytic T cells are decreased

 

Zinc deficiency has now been recognized to be associated with many

diseases--for example:

 

Malabsorption syndrome Chronic liver disease Chronic renal disease Sickle

cell disease Diabetes Malignancy Other chronic illnesses

 

In these conditions, deficiencies of other micronutrients such as vitamins

and other trace elements may also be associated. It should be emphasized

that nutritional zinc deficiency in the developing countries does not occur

in isolation.

 

Recently the National Institutes of Health's Eye Institute conducted a large

double blind clinical trial including 3,640 elderly participants, which

showed that antioxidants and zinc supplements delayed progression of age

related macular degeneration and reduced the risk of loss of vision. Zinc

deficiency is also common in elderly people.

 

Zinc decreases the copper burden in humans; as such it has been used

effectively to treat Wilson's disease. In therapeutic doses, zinc has been

shown to be beneficial in the treatment of:

 

Hepatic encephalopathy Sickle cell disease The common cold

 

More than 300 catalytically active zinc metalloproteins and more than 2,000

zinc dependent transcription factors involved in gene expression of various

proteins have been recognized.

 

The problem has been known for 40 years and a solution is still outstanding.

Despite all the evidence, practically no attention has been given by the

world's organizations to the problem of zinc deficiency. Growth retardation

and increased susceptibility to infectious and cognitive impairment are

common in developing countries where nutritional deficiency of zinc is also

prevalent.

 

British Medical Journal February 22, 2003;326:409-410 (Full Text Article)

 

 

 

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: document. write ( " E-mail to a friend " );

 

This is an excellent comprehensive review on zinc from one of the top zinc

researchers in the world. While zinc is an essential component of human

nutrition and deficiency can result in some devastating symptoms as

discussed above, it is important to avoid the traditional paradigm approach

to nutrients.

 

Most physicians, natural medical doctors and patients have a strong tendency

to target nutrients for specific diseases. I believe this is an artifact of

being so long rooted in the drug-based health care model. Most of you

realize that I am a minimalist when it comes to using supplements but still

use them quite a bit when indicated.

 

The key to supplement use is understanding who needs them and when. This

usually involves an individual assessment so that the individual with the

disease is treated--not the disease. This is an important distinction; if

you supplement with nutrients indiscriminately it is clear they can cause

quite serious damage. I have seen this happen all too frequently in many

well-intentioned professionals and patients.

 

Fortunately, metabolic typing in conjunction with hair analysis is often

helpful in providing this individualized assessment. I hope to share more

details on this topic later this year, but in the meantime my good friend

and top-notch nutritionist David Vaughan provides the following pearls on

zinc:

 

People who build or move into new homes with copper pipes should supplement

with zinc for a year or two. Copper pipes are a huge unmentioned problem

with very long lasting and devastating effects. I think research would show

a big increase in cancer (especially female hormone related cancers) from

copper plumbing. I also believe there is a strong link between the so-called

ADHD/ADD epidemic and copper plumbing. Wouldn't proving that mess up the

plumbing industry?!

 

Related Articles:

 

Zinc Therapy Reduces Duration of Colds

 

Zinc Essential for Normal Infant Growth