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Q: Zinc and Inflammation ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Zinc and Inflammation
Category: Health > Conditions and Diseases
Asked by: maluca-ga
List Price: $25.00
Posted: 18 Jun 2004 16:00 PDT
Expires: 18 Jul 2004 16:00 PDT
Question ID: 363169
I have Reiters Syndrome which can cause inflamation with the urethra
being one area. I have in 20 years never had a problem with
inflammation there that I could feel anyway. Recently I began taking a
high quality Zinc supplement and experienced lots of inflammation to
the point of having to wear sweat pants. Drs. find no other cause. It
is definately related to when I take the zinc. I take dhea for a
adrenal problem and it depleats zinc so I need to take it. Is it
possible the zinc is depleating something allowing the inflammation?
Naproysn after 3-4 days takes care of it only if I stop the zinc.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Zinc and Inflammation
Answered By: pafalafa-ga on 10 Jul 2004 18:08 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
maluca-ga,

I'm so glad to hear that the study I found has been helpful to you in
addressing your situation.  I hope you will continue on the path to
progress.

The study itself was a recent publication examining the effects of
dietary zinc on wound-healing in mice.  The abstract of the study is
here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15051830&dopt=Abstract




J Nutr. 2004 Apr;134(4):811-6

Dietary zinc alters early inflammatory responses during cutaneous
wound healing in weanling CD-1 mice.

Lim Y, Levy M, Bray TM.

Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.


I would encourage you to read the full abstract, but here are some
relevant excerpts from it:


==========


...Zinc deficiency is a well-known health problem associated with
delayed wound healing, yet the precise mechanisms that underlie the
delay remain unknown. We hypothesized that zinc deficiency delays
wound healing as a result of decreased nuclear factor (NF)kappaB
activation, reduced expression of proinflammatory cytokines
[interleukin (IL)-1beta and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha], and a
decrease in neutrophil infiltration during the early stage of
cutaneous wound healing...

...Interestingly, zinc supplementation at 1000 microg/g delayed the
rate of wound closure and decreased mRNA levels of TNF-alpha and
infiltration of neutrophils compared with mice fed the control diet.
These findings demonstrate that zinc deficiency and high-dose zinc
supplementation delay wound healing as a result of altered
inflammatory responses and suggest that adequate zinc supplementation
may have beneficial effects on the inflammatory responses to enhance
cutaneous wound healing.

==========

It's a bit technical, but the bottom line is that both too much or too
little zinc can have an adverse effect on inflammatory responses, so
that modifying zinc intake can be one strategy for coping with
unwelcome inflammation.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga



search strategy:  Google search on [ zinc inflammation dietary ]
maluca-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Great Job.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Zinc and Inflammation
From: pafalafa-ga on 18 Jun 2004 20:34 PDT
 
At least one study I came across says that both too little or too much
zinc can have an adverse effect on inflammatory responses:


"...These findings demonstrate that zinc deficiency and high-dose zinc
supplementation delay wound healing as a result of altered
inflammatory responses and suggest that adequate zinc supplementation
may have beneficial effects on the inflammatory responses to enhance
cutaneous wound healing."

Just wanted to present this, FYI.
Subject: Re: Zinc and Inflammation
From: thinkcap-ga on 20 Jun 2004 14:24 PDT
 
Did you try taking essential fatty acids, so necessary to prevent inflammation?
Omega 3, Borage, Flaxseed oils are some of the sources to obtain high
quality fatty acids
Subject: Re: Zinc and Inflammation
From: maluca-ga on 10 Jul 2004 15:52 PDT
 
I consider this a answered question Pafalafa. As I re-read your
comment it does in fact work out that less Zinc does not cause any
inflammation for me. Please post your source and comment as answer.

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