Re: Copper/Jo or Doc

[Guest guest]

wow- im glad you posted that. I get my labs drawn in June- they have to check my

iron levels becaue im anemic and i am really feeling it today. Ive been off my

calcitriol for about a week now- have to have it refilled. Could going off that

make me tired or could this be PMS??

VIcki

Jo wrote:

For educational purposes I thought I'd pass on some Bits and pieces

of an article about Copper taken from Beyond Change, Author

Jacques, N.D.

=========================

Conditions known to contribute to copper deficiency are: Prolonged

infection or inflammation, pregnancy, liver disease, use of

estrogenic drugs, celiac disease, surgical resection of the bowel,

nephritic syndrome and generalized malnutrition. As well as with

excessive or prolonged intake of iron or zinc supplements.

When Copper is depleted, iron is not properly transported from

storage to the bone marrow for production of red blood cells.

Chronic Copper deficiency could therefore, result in disordered iron

metabolism and an anemia that mimics that of iron deficiency. In

these cases, serum iron and ferritin should still be normal and

neutropenia would still be expected. In the case of WLS it might be

possible to see true COMBINED deficiency since both nutrients can be

malabsorbed. Copper Deficiency might become more suspect if anemia

did not correct as expected with iron therapy or in any way worsened

and in any case with anemia and neutropenia.

Copper deficiency leading to myelopathy was only first described in

2001. Since that time most cases have been associated with zinc

excess. Patients described by the Mayo Clinic, presented with mild

anemia that had been presumed to be due to iron deficiency. They

then manifested ataxia, decreased sensation in the hands and lower

legs, lower limb weakness and hyper-reflexia. MRI studies done in

other cases has revealed subacute combined degeneration very similar

to that seen in B12 deficiency. which would explain the similar

symptoms.

Other possible signs of deficiency include generalized weakness and

fatigue, decreased skin pigmentation, skin sores, increased

cholesterol, poor immune function, impaired glucose tolerance and

myocardial disease.

Copper, iron and zinc compete for absorption so should be taken

separately. Much like iron copper relies on stomach acid to free it

from its bound state in food and to help maintain the optimal ionic

state for absorption.

Good dietary sources for copper include organ meats, shellfish,

nuts, beans/legumes, dark chocolate, enriched grains, dried fruits,

mushrooms, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, grapes and avocados.

It is expected they will be finding more cases of copper deficiency

among WLS patients in the future.

Hugs

Jo

My Notes: Dr. K test for copper...so do your labs! Also since you

need stomach acids to absorb copper and it is primarily absorbed in

the proximal (top portion) of the bowel, this is a bigger problem

for the RNYers...however it most certainly does not exclude us.