Zinc Supplements: Copper Deficiency Mimics Myelodysplastic Syndromes Seen In Many In This COVID-Era As A Result Of Zinc Supplementation
Zinc Supplements - Copper Deficiency -MDS -COVID-19 Feb 11, 2023 1 year, 9 months, 1 week, 3 days, 7 hours, 16 minutes ago
Zinc Supplements: Researchers from Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Philadelphia-USA and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia-USA are warning that many are manifesting health conditions resembling myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and at times are even misdiagnosed by physicians when it reality it is actually copper deficiency caused by zinc supplementation, especially in this COVID-19 era where many believe that zinc supplementation helps protect their immune functions without knowing about the possible adverse effects of zinc supplementation!
Myelodysplastic syndromes are a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature or become healthy blood cells.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ah/2013/309637/
In the initial stages, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may include feeling tired, shortness of breath, bleeding disorders, anemia, or frequent infections.
Typical symptoms include:
-Anemia (low RBC count or reduced hemoglobin) – chronic tiredness, shortness of breath, chilled sensation, sometimes chest pain.
-Neutropenia (low neutrophil count) – increased susceptibility to infection.
-Thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) – increased susceptibility to bleeding and ecchymosis (bruising), as well a subcutaneous hemorrhaging resulting in purpura or petechiae.
-Splenomegaly or rarely hepatomegaly
-Abnormal granules in cells, abnormal nuclear shape and size
-Chromosome abnormality, including chromosomal translocations and abnormal chromosome number
However, copper deficiency can actually mimic the condition.
In copper deficiency, commonly observed abnormalities in bone marrow include vacuoles in myeloid precursors, iron-containing plasma cells, a decrease in granulocyte precursors and ring sideroblasts. Sometimes these features may lead to misdiagnosis as Myelodysplastic Syndromes or MDS.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5234233/
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/crihem/2021/9661765/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10428194.2015.1086920
Various
Zinc Supplements coverages and studies have showed that zinc supplementation can cause copper deficiency.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26085547/
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3335323/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ccr3.2987
ttps://www.gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(88)90445-3/fulltext
The study team based their warnings based on a documented cases study that was studied by them.
Their case report was reported in the peer reviewed journal: Case Reports In Oncology (Karger)
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/528899
The study team in their research abstract and case report says that while copper deficiency is rare, it can have serious consequences, including pancytopenia and neuropathy. This treatable micronutrient deficiency can present very similarly to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of myeloid neoplasms which can carry devastating prognoses. Copper deficiency is an essential differential diagnosis in suspected MDS, as it can present with similar laboratory findings, bone marrow biopsy, and clinical picture.
Although copper deficiency has multiple potential causes, it typically occurs in patients with a predisposing gastrointestinal pathology.
One possible cause of copper deficiency is zinc overload.
Interestingly, zinc over-supplementation has been prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as some believe that zinc can help prevent COVID-19 infection.
Multiple case reports have illustrated the similarities between copper deficiency and MDS. They have also highlighted zinc over-supplementation as a potential cause.
Their case report was unique in that their patient lacked gastrointestinal pathology.
However, the 48-year-old male patient still presented with the clinical and laboratory findings of MDS in the setting of copper deficiency. These include anemia, leukopenia, fatigue, and neuropathy.
It was found that this deficiency was caused by zinc over-supplementation in efforts to prevent COVID-19. The deficiency and the accompanying symptoms were treated with copper supplementation and cessation of zinc intake.
There has also been other similarly reported case reports:
https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(22)00244-3/fulltext
In fact, the incidence of reported copper deficiencies and misdiagnosis of MDS has increased drastically during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as many are taking zinc supplements without knowing the consequences and in many cases, they are taking zinc supplements way above the recommended dietary guidelines!
This latest case report makes clear that healthy individuals without significant medical history can also suffer the harmful consequences of copper deficiency, brought on by zinc supplementation, which might mimic other serious hematologic disorders such as MDS, and the workup should always include this consideration. Education of physicians and the public on this consequence of unsupervised zinc supplementation is extremely important. This case brings necessary attention to a rare but real consequence of zinc supplementation used to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Before taking any supplements, it is always advisable for all to consult a licensed medical doctor who has knowledge about supplements.
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Zinc Supplements, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.
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