Tuesday, 27 March 2007
Zinc Deficiency
When I saw ‘Zinc’, my first reaction was, "But Zinc is a metal!" Then, I remembered the possibility of an Iodine Deficiency
(Can you imagine those brown liquid that you see in the labs turning blue-black whenever they come into contact with starch in your body? Haha! serene:hi rachel, the human body doesn't store starch right! i thought we only did glucose/glycogen), and I decided that having Zinc in the human body is not THAT impossible after all…
Zinc is one of the most important elements that the human body needs for survival. It is needed to:
Stimulate about 100 enzymes in the human body
Support the immune system
Heal wounds
Maintain sense of taste and smell
Synthesise DNA
Support normal growth and development during pregnancy, childbirth and adolescence
With so many functions, an inadequate intake or a poor absorption of zinc could cause tons of problems. This would include slow fetal growth, a decrease in appetite which could worsen to anorexia nervosa, just to name a few.
Signs and symptoms of Zinc deficiency include hair loss, skin lesions, diarrhea, wasting of body tissues, and ultimately, death. à The horrifying word! Ah!
A small piece of information about Zinc:
When combined with antioxidants, it may delay age-progression of macular degeneration. Sounds nice at first, but hear this, "The effect is extremely small and not likely to be clinically important." What a world, what a world!
Now back to business. Zinc deficiency is experienced in any parts of the world. But I guess it’s more prominent in the urban areas than the rural areas. The !Kung Bushmen do hunt animals to eat right? I do not think they have vegetarians and what-nots like we do in the urban world.
"For those who cannot afford a balanced and varied diet, Zinc deficiency during pregnancy and childhood could occur."
A solution to this problem could be coming up with an affordable way of rearing oysters (Good source of Zinc) to sell to the masses. This would decrease its cost and hopefully, decrease the cases of Zinc Deficiency in pregnant women and children.
Well, I may say that that is not the only cause of Zinc deficiency. I guess many people during their pregnancy and childhood do not consider the need for such a nutrient. Their knowledge for ‘zinc’ stays at that it is an element of the Periodic Table and that it is a metal. (I am one such example.) Hence, there should be an improvement of public awareness for such a need. Maybe hand out pamphlets, or post advertisements on the papers.
Low zinc status has been observed in many alcoholics, due to the fact that alcohol decreases the absorption of zinc and increases the loss of zinc in urine. I am not saying that the alcohol is the whole problem; another factor that contributes to this is that the alcoholics may not have had a varied diet to maintain the amount of zinc in their bodies. What say do I have to this? Well, it goes back to the clichéd, "Don’t be an alcoholic!" Alcoholism does not cost one’s family but also one’s life as well.
As mentioned, Zinc deficiency could lower one’s appetite, leading to malnutrition.
It has been proven that it improves weight gain in anorexia. So… eat more ZINC!
Now we know the effects of a lack of ZINC! We shall have a moment of silence as we dedicate the day of today to an element close to my dear heart. It’s importance and our dependence on it. Oh yes, to ZINC!
……..
Done? All right then. HAPPY ZINC DAY!
P.S. PRAISE THE OYSTERS! (OKAY, I know that it may be scientifically overwhelming but my love for science cannot be explained. But it does increase your appreciation to the metal, isolated and unknown to the outside world! Doesn’t it?)
When I saw ‘Zinc’, my first reaction was, "But Zinc is a metal!" Then, I remembered the possibility of an Iodine Deficiency
(Can you imagine those brown liquid that you see in the labs turning blue-black whenever they come into contact with starch in your body? Haha! serene:hi rachel, the human body doesn't store starch right! i thought we only did glucose/glycogen), and I decided that having Zinc in the human body is not THAT impossible after all…
Zinc is one of the most important elements that the human body needs for survival. It is needed to:
Stimulate about 100 enzymes in the human body
Support the immune system
Heal wounds
Maintain sense of taste and smell
Synthesise DNA
Support normal growth and development during pregnancy, childbirth and adolescence
With so many functions, an inadequate intake or a poor absorption of zinc could cause tons of problems. This would include slow fetal growth, a decrease in appetite which could worsen to anorexia nervosa, just to name a few.
Signs and symptoms of Zinc deficiency include hair loss, skin lesions, diarrhea, wasting of body tissues, and ultimately, death. à The horrifying word! Ah!
A small piece of information about Zinc:
When combined with antioxidants, it may delay age-progression of macular degeneration. Sounds nice at first, but hear this, "The effect is extremely small and not likely to be clinically important." What a world, what a world!
Now back to business. Zinc deficiency is experienced in any parts of the world. But I guess it’s more prominent in the urban areas than the rural areas. The !Kung Bushmen do hunt animals to eat right? I do not think they have vegetarians and what-nots like we do in the urban world.
"For those who cannot afford a balanced and varied diet, Zinc deficiency during pregnancy and childhood could occur."
A solution to this problem could be coming up with an affordable way of rearing oysters (Good source of Zinc) to sell to the masses. This would decrease its cost and hopefully, decrease the cases of Zinc Deficiency in pregnant women and children.
Well, I may say that that is not the only cause of Zinc deficiency. I guess many people during their pregnancy and childhood do not consider the need for such a nutrient. Their knowledge for ‘zinc’ stays at that it is an element of the Periodic Table and that it is a metal. (I am one such example.) Hence, there should be an improvement of public awareness for such a need. Maybe hand out pamphlets, or post advertisements on the papers.
Low zinc status has been observed in many alcoholics, due to the fact that alcohol decreases the absorption of zinc and increases the loss of zinc in urine. I am not saying that the alcohol is the whole problem; another factor that contributes to this is that the alcoholics may not have had a varied diet to maintain the amount of zinc in their bodies. What say do I have to this? Well, it goes back to the clichéd, "Don’t be an alcoholic!" Alcoholism does not cost one’s family but also one’s life as well.
As mentioned, Zinc deficiency could lower one’s appetite, leading to malnutrition.
It has been proven that it improves weight gain in anorexia. So… eat more ZINC!
Now we know the effects of a lack of ZINC! We shall have a moment of silence as we dedicate the day of today to an element close to my dear heart. It’s importance and our dependence on it. Oh yes, to ZINC!
……..
Done? All right then. HAPPY ZINC DAY!
P.S. PRAISE THE OYSTERS! (OKAY, I know that it may be scientifically overwhelming but my love for science cannot be explained. But it does increase your appreciation to the metal, isolated and unknown to the outside world! Doesn’t it?)
too beautiful ;
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