Acrodermatitis enteropathica is a rare inherited disorder which usually appears very early in life. It causes terribly serious skin lesions which refuse to heal, disrupted bowel function, poor nutrient absorption,
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and stunted growth. Unless controlled by a drug (which itself can cause serious problems), this disease usually ends in death.
In 1974, it was conclusively proven that the disease can be 100 percent controlled with zinc supplements. In that year, in Lancet, Dr. E. J. Moynahan of the Hospital for Sick Children in London related that he and his colleagues added a daily supplement of 35 mg. of zinc to the diet of children with acrodermatitis enteropathica.
They were astounded by the results. Not only did the horrible skin problems vanish, but the bowel symptoms "which had stubbornly resisted a variety of dietary regimens and drug therapy" were also completely normalized.
After some months, the doctors reported that "all of the children are now completely free from symptoms and are thriving well with zinc supplements alone; furthermore, they enjoy a normal diet, without restrictions." As a bonus, nearly all the children (except those approaching puberty) also went into a growth spurt—which was most conspicuous when the drug they were taking was rapidly withdrawn.
The children are not "cured" in the sense that they no longer have the disease; rather, the disease is completely controlled as long as they take their zinc supplements daily. The problem, it turned out, is an inherited disorder in zinc metabolism which requires supplements of this trace mineral to maintain normal health.
Actually, zinc isn't the only nutritional therapy for this condition. The other treatment is an exclusive diet of breast milk.
The disease never appears in babies who are breast-feeding. If it strikes a child who has been nursed, it only comes after he or she is weaned. Restoration of breast milk immediately abolishes all symptoms. When any other kind of milk or protein food is given, the child becomes sick again.
Dr. Moynahan speculates that children with acrodermatitis enteropathica lack a vital enzyme needed to handle a certain protein. In the absence of this enzyme, the protein substance apparently binds all the zinc in the diet and makes it unavailable to the body. Curiously, the offending protein substance is not found in breast milk. When zinc supplements are taken, the protein still binds up a certain amount of zinc, but there's enough of the mineral left over to fill the body's requirements.
The maintenance dose first successfully used by Dr. Moynahan was only 35 mg. of zinc a day. However, he recommends to other doctors that they use about 150 mg. a day in divided doses, to allow for poor absorption which may occur in the event of intestinal infections or diarrhea.
Within months after this medical discovery was published, reports were coming in from all over the world of the miraculous healing achieved with inexpensive supplements of zinc sulfate or zinc gluconate.
As a footnote, let me add that one of the first cases of healing acrodermatitis enteropathica with zinc in the United States—possibly the first case—was achieved by a reader of PREVENTION. Coming across an early report about. Moynahan's pioneering work, this reader, whose son had A. E., asked her physician what he thought of the idea. He told her to forget about it—calling it "just another pipe dream." But the woman persisted and wrote to Dr. Moynahan in London. He very generously gave the woman full instructions for the zinc regimen, and in short order, the woman's son was healthy and free of pain for the first time in his life.
As a footnote to that footnote, I think it's important to mention that at precisely the same time as this was going on, a well-known and widely respected nutritionist wrote in a syndicated column that no one needs supplements of zinc, and that on no account should anyone take zinc supplements except on the advice of the family physician.
I'm not mentioning this to denigrate that particular nutritionist in any way; only to illustrate that the often-heard advice that one should never do anything without the blessings of one's family physician is dangerously simplistic. It assumes that the family physician is sure to know the answer to every question about health or nutrition. Obviously, that isn't the case. Doctors realize this only too well, but some seem to loathe to admit it publicly. In the case of serious illness, if the treatment or advice of your primary physician does not satisfy you, the sensible course is to consult other health authorities who may know more about the problem.
Part1 Part2 Part3
and stunted growth. Unless controlled by a drug (which itself can cause serious problems), this disease usually ends in death.
In 1974, it was conclusively proven that the disease can be 100 percent controlled with zinc supplements. In that year, in Lancet, Dr. E. J. Moynahan of the Hospital for Sick Children in London related that he and his colleagues added a daily supplement of 35 mg. of zinc to the diet of children with acrodermatitis enteropathica.
They were astounded by the results. Not only did the horrible skin problems vanish, but the bowel symptoms "which had stubbornly resisted a variety of dietary regimens and drug therapy" were also completely normalized.
After some months, the doctors reported that "all of the children are now completely free from symptoms and are thriving well with zinc supplements alone; furthermore, they enjoy a normal diet, without restrictions." As a bonus, nearly all the children (except those approaching puberty) also went into a growth spurt—which was most conspicuous when the drug they were taking was rapidly withdrawn.
The children are not "cured" in the sense that they no longer have the disease; rather, the disease is completely controlled as long as they take their zinc supplements daily. The problem, it turned out, is an inherited disorder in zinc metabolism which requires supplements of this trace mineral to maintain normal health.
Actually, zinc isn't the only nutritional therapy for this condition. The other treatment is an exclusive diet of breast milk.
The disease never appears in babies who are breast-feeding. If it strikes a child who has been nursed, it only comes after he or she is weaned. Restoration of breast milk immediately abolishes all symptoms. When any other kind of milk or protein food is given, the child becomes sick again.
Dr. Moynahan speculates that children with acrodermatitis enteropathica lack a vital enzyme needed to handle a certain protein. In the absence of this enzyme, the protein substance apparently binds all the zinc in the diet and makes it unavailable to the body. Curiously, the offending protein substance is not found in breast milk. When zinc supplements are taken, the protein still binds up a certain amount of zinc, but there's enough of the mineral left over to fill the body's requirements.
The maintenance dose first successfully used by Dr. Moynahan was only 35 mg. of zinc a day. However, he recommends to other doctors that they use about 150 mg. a day in divided doses, to allow for poor absorption which may occur in the event of intestinal infections or diarrhea.
Within months after this medical discovery was published, reports were coming in from all over the world of the miraculous healing achieved with inexpensive supplements of zinc sulfate or zinc gluconate.
As a footnote, let me add that one of the first cases of healing acrodermatitis enteropathica with zinc in the United States—possibly the first case—was achieved by a reader of PREVENTION. Coming across an early report about. Moynahan's pioneering work, this reader, whose son had A. E., asked her physician what he thought of the idea. He told her to forget about it—calling it "just another pipe dream." But the woman persisted and wrote to Dr. Moynahan in London. He very generously gave the woman full instructions for the zinc regimen, and in short order, the woman's son was healthy and free of pain for the first time in his life.
As a footnote to that footnote, I think it's important to mention that at precisely the same time as this was going on, a well-known and widely respected nutritionist wrote in a syndicated column that no one needs supplements of zinc, and that on no account should anyone take zinc supplements except on the advice of the family physician.
I'm not mentioning this to denigrate that particular nutritionist in any way; only to illustrate that the often-heard advice that one should never do anything without the blessings of one's family physician is dangerously simplistic. It assumes that the family physician is sure to know the answer to every question about health or nutrition. Obviously, that isn't the case. Doctors realize this only too well, but some seem to loathe to admit it publicly. In the case of serious illness, if the treatment or advice of your primary physician does not satisfy you, the sensible course is to consult other health authorities who may know more about the problem.