But zinc is not the first thing that doctors reach for when Wilson's disease is diagnosed. So we've developed a new drug called tetrathiomolybdate, a compound that works very nicely in the initial treatment of people with brain symptoms. We use it for eight weeks, and then we transition to zinc . The trientine helps flush out the copper fairly rapidly. Once on zinc -only therapy, a person with Wilson's disease is home free.
Copper is an essential nutrient, and without copper , people die.
So what you're doing with zinc therapy is reducing the excessive load of copper and preventing it from reaccumulating. That's why you can eat a normal diet. Prescriptions for Healing Zinc counteracts the toxic accumulation of copper that occurs in the brain, liver, kidneys and eyes of a person with Wilson's disease. Here's the amount recommended by George Brewer, M.D., professor of human genetics and internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. Anyone with Wilson's disease should be under a doctor's care, especially since the amount of zinc recommended here can be toxic.