It is NOT for their diagnostic or therapeutic use. It is definitely NOT for any public use whatever, nor intended in any way to be taken as advice for any medical or health condition. The elderly and alcohol abuser are the main risk groups for zinc deficiency but diagnosis often relies on clinical suspicion.
Zinc deficiency is much more common than most GPs realise.
A full blown case of zinc deficiency is quite a serious illness. In children it causes growth stunting and delayed sexual maturity, in adults dermatitis, alopecia and anaemia. Severe zinc deficiency is mainly a problem of third world countries. A moderate form of the disease featuring hypogonadism and neurosensory changes has been reported in developed countries, but in Australian general practice it is much more likely that you will see marginal zinc deficiency. Unfortunately most of these symptoms are quite non-specific and with a generally low level of awareness of the much zinc deficiency remains undiagnosed.