TRACE ELEMENTS IN MEDICINE
Authors: NOMIYAMA KAZUO , NOMIYAMA HIROKO 
Published: November 2004

1) ZINC: In 1963, Prasad found that dwarfism in Egypt was caused by zinc deficiency. Since then, many clinical pictures involving zinc deficiency have been reported on, such as alopecia (baldness), intestinal acrodermatitis (dermatitis of the extremities), alcohol-induced anencephalic children, and depressed immune response.

2) COPPER: Wilson’s disease is characterized by hepato-cerebral degeneration, which is caused by the deposition of copper in the liver and the cerebrum. Chelete therapy has been applied to remove the copper from the organs in order to treat Wilson’s disease. However, during the last several years zinc or manganese has also been applied to remove copper. The therapy mechanism is based on the interaction of copper to zinc and manganese. Zinc and copper deficiency is also an important topic in medical elementology.

3) MERCURY: Sir Isaac Newton was well known to be distrustful of others in his last years. The clinical picture was characterized by severe neuropathy, which was caused by heavy exposure to mercury during his long scholarly life.

Children sometimes break thermometer in their mouth. Does metallic mercury in the thermometer induce mercury intoxication ? The answer is no. Intestinal absorption of metallic mercury is quite low, and thus ingested mercury rarely induces intoxication. The mercury is simply excreted through the feces within a day or two. One should attempt to wash the mercury out from the stomach with water. However, do not treat the child with laxatives, as they can increase the intestinal absorption of mercury, resulting in intoxication.

4) METHYLMERCURY: Severe neuropathy was endemic among fishermen and their families in a particular area of Kyushu Island, Japan. They were found to have eaten a great amount of fish, which were contaminated with organic mercury emitted from a fertilizer producing plant. The disease was later named as Minamata disease. The total number of recognized patients has amounted to 3,000 people, to date.

5) CADMIUM: Cadmium deficiency was recently found to depress the development of baby animals by Anke. This finding suggests that cadmium is not only a harmful element but also an essential element.

Itai-Itai disease is characterized as osteomalacia, which is followed by severe renal tubular damage. Patients were comprised largely of elderly women who lived in the Jintsu river basin over a long period, and ingested excess cadmium emitted from a mine, which contaminated the local rice and drinking water. Long-term monkey experiments could not demonstrate osteomalacia by cadmium, however, epidemiological and experimental studies showed that an age-related increase in blood pressure is accelerated by cadmium at low doses, but depressed by cadmium at high doses.

6) LEAD: Lead is a very useful element, but a very harmful element as well. Lead has a potent hematopoietic effect on adults, and also negative psycho-neurological effects on babies. Soil pollution from lead has been discussed in relation to depressed intelligence among children living in U. S. slums.

Sometimes residents in rural areas are shot with lead slugs by mistake. Do does lead slugs cause lead intoxication? Usually not. Medication is necessary only when lead slugs injure blood vessels or neurons. Most lead slugs do not induce lead intoxication because the lead slugs are soon covered with granular tissues.

7) CHROMIUM: Chromium is one of the essential trace elements, and is related to glucose tolerance and transmission velocity of peripheral nerves. Adverse effects of excessive chromium are chromium ulcers, perforation of the nasal septum, and lung cancer.

8) ARSENIC: Neutron activation analysis revealed excess amounts of arsenic in the hair of Napoleon. It was then suspected that he was killed with arsenic. Concerning the cause of his death, it was shown that grapes were disinfected with arsenic in those days, and that Napoleon might have consumed excess arsenic from drinking wine. However, the cause of his death remains unsolved.

On the other hand, arsenic was used to promote health in Austria. Huge doses of arsenic, lethal for ordinary people, were administered to Austrian youths to assist them in Alpinc hiking.

Japanese, especially residents in seashore areas, eat sizable amounts of sea weeds, which contain a huge amount of arsenic. Do they suffer from arsenic intoxication? The answer is no. The chemical form of arsenic in sea weeds is methyl-arsenic, the detoxicated chemical form, which does not revert to the active chemical form of arsenic.