Title: INDICATIONS OF ZINC DEFICIENCY FOR LITHUANIAN POPULATION AND ITS GEOMEDICAL CONTROL
1INDICATIONS OF ZINC DEFICIENCY FOR LITHUANIAN
POPULATION AND ITS GEOMEDICAL CONTROL
SCIENTIFIC NETWORKING AND THE GLOBAL HEALTH
SUPERCOURSE FOR THE PREVENTION OF THREAT FROM
MAN MADE AND NATURAL DISASTERS August 8-10, 2005,
Kaunas, Lithuania
- Marija Jakubeniene, Gediminas Žukauskas,
Saulius Šliaupa - Institute of Forensic Medicine of Mykolas
Romeris University - Institute of Geology and Geography
- Vilnius, Lithuania
2Worrying health and social problems
- Increased general morbidity and mortality in
Lithuania - The biggest suicide rate among European countries
(44.5/100 000 inhabitants) - Nearly epidemic status with tuberculosis (86/100
000) - High level of alcohol delirium
- Increased number of alopecia among young people
3ESSENTIALITY OF ZINC FOR HUMAN
- Zinc functions as a required cofactor for over
200 metalloenzymes - Zinc is an essential component of the endogenous
storage forms of pancreatic insulin - Zinc play a very important role in RNA and DNA
metabolism - Zinc is essential for immune system, growth and
sex hormones - Zinc is involved in the pathophysiology and
therapy of depression.
4BIOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF ZINC FOR LIVING
ORGANIZMS (HISTORY OF DISCAVERIES)
- J.Raulin (1869) essentiality of zinc in the
nutrition of Aspergillus Niger - V.Birckner (1919) first indication of a
function for zinc in the higher animals - A.Sommer, C.Lipman (1928) the essentiality of
zinc for the higher form of plant life - W.Todd (1934) first evidence that zinc is a
dietary essential for the rat - W.Tucker, W.Salmon (1955) zinc cures and
prevents parakeratozis in pigs - B. ODell (1960) zinc requirements for growth,
feathering, and skeletal development in poultry - A.Prasad (1961) the relation of the occurrence
of dwarfism and hypogonadism in boys in parts of
the Middle East.
5Taste abnormalities
Abnormal dark adaption
CLINICAL MANIFESTATUIONS IN MILD TO MODERATE
CASES OF ZINC DEFICIENCY
Oligospermia
Delayed wound healing
Slight weight loss
6Emotional disorders (depression, paranoia)
Depletion of immunity
CLINICAL MANIFESTATUIONS IN SEVERE CASES OF
ZINC DEFICIENCY
Alopecia
Alcoholism
Hypogonadism in males
Bullous-pustular dermatitis
Infections
7Other symptoms of Zinc deficiency (Each person
manifests different symptoms)Hypo-hyper-tension
Diabetes Obesity Acne Infertility Thyroid
disorders
Zn deficiency may lead to expressed Fe, Cu, Cd,
Pb accumulations, essentially on the background
of alcohol abuse. They are
functional antagonists to Zn.
Pfeiffer C.C., 1978Jensen B., 1983
8Nutritional factors
Excessive alcohol use
Liver diseases
Zn deficiency symptoms result from
Sickle cell disease
Malabsorption syndromes
Renal disease
9Nutritional factors
- Consumption of cereal proteins containing high
levels of fibers known as phylates - Geochemical characteristics of soil (decreased
level of zinc in cultures grown in the regions
with depleted content of zinc in soil). - 20 of the worlds people suffer from zinc
deficient diet (the report of International Zinc
Nutrition Consultative Group, 2004)
10Zn content in soil of Lithuania
Different filtering window
11Rates of suicides in different regions of
Lithuania
Three anomalies excluded
12Rates of suicides in different regions of
Lithuania (three anomalies excluded)
Zn in soil
13The rates of suicides in different regions of
Lithuania (average rate for four years1999,
2001, 2002, 2003).
Average rate of suicides for 45 regions
57.6/100 000 Average rate in regions with low
zinc content in soil 63.2/100 000 Average rate
in regions with highest zinc abundance in soil
51.2/100 000
14Concentration of ZN in the soil (top and bottom),
circum-Baltic area
Lithuania
(after Reimann et al., 2003)
15Comparison of the average Zn content in soil with
rates of suicides in Nordic and Baltic countries
Finland
Latvia
Norway
Sweden
Lithuania
Estonia
16Zinc in blood plasma of persons from control
group
Concentration of zinc in various biomedia of
patients with alopecia accordingly to the age
17ZN DEFICIENCY AND EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL USE (1)
18ZN DEFICIENCY AND EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL USE (2)
19ZN DEFICIENCY AND EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL USE (3)
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Zinc serum concentration in patients with
hepatitis and liver cirrhosis
20ZN DEFICIENCY AND EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL USE (4)
Alcohol use
Zn deficiency
Liver diseases
21Anxiety disorder
Nutritional factors
Depressive disorder
Suicides
Emotional disorder
Zn deficiency
Behavior disorder
Excessive alcohol use
Personality disorder
22What are criteria for zinc deficiency status for
human?
- Necessity to have normal ranges of this element
for specific population - Depleted concentration of element in blood
compartments, selected tissues and body fluids - Knowledge about interaction of zinc in organism
with another elements - The influence on health status of such geofactors
as gravity and magnetic field, sub-soil
lithologies, relief, some other landscape
feature, drinking water and soil chemistry.
23FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS
- 1. Monitoring of elements in biological
specimens for Lithuanian people and establishment
of normal ranges - 2. Participation in comparative investigation of
elements in biological specimens for different
populations - 3. Investigation of the influence of geofactors
on health status of different population.
24Thank you very much for your attention !!!