5 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies

5 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies

5 Most Common Nutrient Deficiencies

Remember, supplements are never a substitute for a balanced, healthful diet. While it’s possible to get most of them from a balanced diet, the typical Western diet is low in several very important nutrients.

Iron

19–50 years: Male 8 mg  Female 18 mg Pregnant 27 mg

Iron is an essential element for blood production. About 70 percent of your body’s iron is found in the red blood cells of your blood called hemoglobin and in muscle cells called myoglobin. Hemoglobin is essential for transferring oxygen in your blood from the lungs to the tissues.

According to WHO Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the world, affecting more than 25% of people worldwide.

The most common consequence of iron deficiency is anemia, in which the number of your red blood cells and your blood’s ability to carry oxygen drops.

Symptoms:

  • Tiredness
  • Weakness
  • Pale skin
  • Cold hands and feet
  • Brittle nails
  • Weakened immune system
  • Impaired brain function

Two Main Sources of Iron

  • Heme iron – This type of iron is very well absorbed. It’s only found in animal foods, with red meat containing particularly high amounts.
    • Found in red meat, organ meats, shellfish, canned sardines. 
  • Non-heme iron – This type, found in both animal and plant foods, is more common. It is not absorbed as easily as heme iron.
    • Leafy greens; kale, spinach, broccoli
    • Beans
    • Seeds

Tip: Vitamin C can enhance the absorption of iron. Eating vitamin-C-rich foods like oranges, kale, and bell peppers alongside iron-rich foods can help maximize your iron absorption.

Iodine

The daily value (DV) for iodine is 150 mcg for adults and children aged 4. The upper limit is about 1,100 in adults before toxicity can occur however it is rare.

Iodine is most commonly associated with the thyroid. People with iodine deficiencies are prone to having hypothyroidism. What many people don’t know is that when you have hypothyroidism you most commonly will develop a goiter. A goiter is an enlarged thyroid. In hypothyroidism tour TSH is high and your T3 and T4 are low.

Signs and Symptoms

  • Goiter
  • Fatigue and weaknesses
  • Weight gain
  • Hair loss, dry and flaky skin
  • Trouble learning or remembering
  • Feeling cold all the time

Main sources of iodine

  • Seaweed has the highest concentration of iodine, 1 gram of kelp has over 500% of the daily value
  • Fish: about 3-4 ounces can provide about 50-60% of DV
  • Dairy: about 1 cup of plain yogurt can get you 50% of the DV
  • Eggs: about 1 large egg can get you 16% DV

Vitamin D

Vitamin D intake is recommended at 400–800 IU/day or 10–20 micrograms. However, some studies suggest that a higher daily intake of 1000–4000 IU (25–100 micrograms) is needed to maintain optimal blood levels.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that functions like a steroid hormone in your body.

It travels through your bloodstream and into cells, telling them to turn genes on or off. Almost every cell in your body has a receptor for vitamin D.

Vitamin D is produced from cholesterol in your skin upon exposure to sunlight.

Unfortunately, about 42% of the US population is vitamin D deficient with some populations having even higher levels of deficiency, including premenopausal women, those with poor nutrition habits, people over age 65, Caucasians who avoid even minimal sun exposure, and those who take prescription medication long term.

Symptoms of Vitamin D are not noticeable and take years to develop. Adults who are deficient in vitamin D may experience muscle weakness, bone loss, and an increased risk of fractures. In children, it may cause growth delays and soft bones (rickets)

The best source of Vitamin D is sunlight. Supplemental can be found in Cod liver oil, fatty fish, and egg yolk. One large egg yolk contains 7% of the DV

Note that screening for Vitamin D deficiency is not part of the standard protocol in the US

Vitamin D & COVID

There is historic evidence that vitamin D supplementation prevented past respiratory virus pandemics. Molecular mechanisms of vitamin D action can prevent respiratory viral infections and protect against ARDS. Vitamin D’s direct effect on the renin-angiotensin-system (RAS), which in concert with additional effects, can modify host responses thus preventing a cytokine storm and SARS-CoV-2-induced pathological changes.

The study, titled “Estimated Inactivation of Coronaviruses by Solar Radiation,” looked at how effective UVB rays had been at inactivating coronavirus at various locations around the world.

90% or more of SARS-CoV-2 virus will be inactivated after being exposed to 11-34 minutes of midday sunlight in most US and world cities during summer.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7300806/

Vitamin B12

Recommended DV of vitamin B12 for people above the age of 14 is 1.8 – 2.4. B12 should be slightly increased during pregnancy and lactation.

Vitamin B 12 is a water-soluble vitamin responsible for red blood cell formation, brain function, and nerve function. Vitamin B12 is found in animal food, this is why it is important for vegetarians and vegans to take a Vitamin B 12 supplements.

It is interesting to understand that vitamin B12 is absorbed differently and it needs a protein called intrinsic factor. People that lack this need to get B12 injections or higher doses of B12.

Signs and Symptoms

  • Megaloblastic anemia: blood disorder that lowers your RBC count while enlarging the RBC itself
  • Fatigue, weakness
  • Weight loss, loss of appetite
  • Constipation

Main sources of Vitamin B12

  • Shellfish: 3 oz of clams accounts for over 1000% of DV
  • Organ meats: about 2oz of the liver has 1000% DV
  • Meats: 6oz of beef can offer over 100% of DV

Calcium 

The DV of calcium of adults and children above the age of 4 is 1,300 mg

Calcium is essential for every cell in your body. It mineralizes bones and teeth, especially during times of rapid growth. It is also very important for bone maintenance. 

Vitamin D helps with the absorption of calcium and phosphorus.

What many people don’t know about calcium is that it is also a signal molecule. Without calcium your heart can’t beat, your muscles can’t contract or relax, and your nerves can’t communicate. Your calcium is regulated in the blood if you have too much it is stored in your bones, if you have too little it is released from your bones.  

Signs and Symptoms

  • Osteoporosis: think of porous bone. Calcium gets pulled from the bone leading to weak and brittle bones
  • Rickets: softening and weakening of bones in children
  • Brittle nails, numbness in hands and feet
  • Muscle spasms and cramps
  • Changes in HR and rhythm and blood pressure
  • Increased incidence of fractures

Main Sources of Calcium

  • Boned fish. One can of sardines is about 40% of DV
  • Dairy: 1 cup of milk is about 33% of DV
  • Dark leafy greens: 1 oz of kale has about 5% DV
Can Blood Types Affect Covid-19?

Can Blood Types Affect Covid-19?

Blood Types and COVID-19

Researchers compared Danish health registry data from more than 473,000 individuals tested for COVID-19 to data from a control group of more than 2.2 million people from the general population. The COVID-19 positive found fewer people with blood type O and more people with A, B, and AB types [1].

The study results suggest that people with blood types A, B, or AB may be more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than people with type O.

  • A more significant proportion of blood group A or AB patients required mechanical ventilation and CRRT than blood group O or B patients. 
  • Biomarkers of renal and hepatic dysfunction were higher in blood group A or AB patients. In our subcohort, there were no differences in serum inflammatory cytokines. 
  • The data indicates that critically ill COVID-19 patients with blood group A or AB are associated with an increased risk for requiring mechanical ventilation, CRRT, and prolonged ICU length of stay compared with patients with blood group O or B [2].

Antibodies are in Plasma Blood Type

Your blood type is a way to categorize your blood according to what’s in it: antigens, including the Rhesus, or Rh, factor.

Antigens are a type of protein on red blood cells. Your blood will be categorized as Type A, Type B, Type AB, or Type O based on the type of antigen. 

When antigens come into contact with substances unfamiliar to your body, such as certain bacteria, they trigger a response from your immune system.

The same type of response can occur during a blood transfusion if your donor’s blood type doesn’t match yours. In that case, your blood cells could clump and cause potentially fatal complications.

The Rh factor is also a substance on the red blood cells. It is where the + and – signs next to your blood type come into play. If you have the Rh factor, you are considered Rh positive (+), and if you don’t, you’re considered Rh-negative (-).

The rhesus protein is named for the rhesus monkey, which also carries the gene, and is a protein that lives on the surface of the red blood cells. This protein is also often called the D antigen.

When it comes to blood transfusion, anyone who is Rh positive can receive blood from Rh negative, but those with harmful blood types cannot obtain from anyone with a positive blood type.

Important especially during pregnancy. It is because the mother’s and baby’s Rh status need to match, or the mother’s immune system may react as if it’s allergic to the baby. Severe cases of mismatched Rh status can lead to diseases such as anemia or brain damage in the baby. In the most severe cases, it can even be fatal.

  • For Group A: This blood group has A antigens and B antibodies.
  • Group B: This blood group has B antigens and A antibodies.
  • For Group AB: This blood group has A and B antigens and no antibodies.
  • Group O: This group doesn’t have either A or B antigens, but both A and B antibodies.

Crossmatching is a way for your healthcare provider to test your blood against a donor’s blood to make sure they are fully compatible. It’s essentially a trial transfusion done in test tubes to see exactly how your blood will react with potential donor blood.

 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2020

Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2020

Breast Cancer 

It’s October and breast cancer awareness month. Breast cancer can be traced right back to ancient Egypt, with the earliest recorded case described on the 1600 BC Edwin Smith Papyrus.

In 2020, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 48,530 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer [1].

About 2,620 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2020. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 883.

What is cancer?

  • Cancer is a broad term for a class of diseases characterized by abnormal cells that grow and invade healthy cells in the body. Cancer begins in the cells which are the basic building blocks that make up tissues. Sometimes, the process of cell growth goes wrong and new cells form when the body doesn’t need them and old or damaged cells do not die as they should.   
  • These cells can spread by breaking away from the original tumor and entering blood vessels or lymph vessels, which branch into tissues throughout the body. When cancer cells travel to other parts of the body and begin damaging other tissues and organs, the process is called metastasis.

What Is A Tumor? Benign vs. Malignant tumors

  • A tumor is a mass of abnormal tissue. There are two types of breast cancer tumors: those that are non-cancerous, or ‘benign’, and those that are cancerous, which are ‘malignant’.
  • Malignant tumors are cancerous and aggressive because they invade and damage surrounding tissue. When a tumor is suspected to be malignant, the doctor will perform a biopsy to determine the severity or aggressiveness of the tumor.

What Causes Breast Cancer Growth?

Cancer spreads in three important ways:

  1.  Damaged cells replicate, creating more damaged cells and tumor growth. When the cell’s DNA (the cell’s wiring) is damaged, mutated cells begin to rapidly reproduce without following the pre-wired plan.
  2. Our body’s hormones and chemicals can accelerate the growth of some tumors. Cancer cell growth is often fueled by normally healthy chemicals of the body, like estrogen, progesterone, and HER2/neu gene (a growth hormone).
  3. Lymph and blood vessels can carry cancer to other areas of the body, and lymph node examination can help pinpoint the progression of the disease. The lymph system, which is part of the immune system, is a network of lymph vessels and lymph nodes running throughout the entire body. Similar to how the blood circulatory system distributes elements throughout the body, the lymph system transports disease-fighting cells and fluids. 

What Grade is Breast Cancer?

Cancer cells are given a grade according to how different they are from normal breast cells and how quickly they are growing. Grade describes how different the cell is from the original.

There are three grades of invasive breast cancer:

  • Grade 1 – looks most like normal breast cells and is usually slow-growing
  • Grade 2 – looks less like normal cells and is growing faster
  • Grade 3 – looks different to normal breast cells and is usually fast-growing

What are the Breast Cancer Stages?

Stages 1-4. The stages take into account: the size of cancer, whether the lymph nodes are affected, and if cancer has spread to other parts of the body. 

Most Common Breast Cancer

Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), sometimes called infiltrating ductal carcinoma, is the most common type of breast cancer. About 80% of all breast cancers are invasive ductal carcinomas.

Invasive means that cancer has “invaded” or spread to the surrounding breast tissues. Ductal means that cancer began in the milk ducts, which are the “pipes” that carry milk from the milk-producing lobules to the nipple.

Although invasive ductal carcinoma can affect women at any age, it is more common as women grow older. According to the American Cancer Society, about two-thirds of women are 55 or older when they are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Invasive ductal carcinoma also affects men.

Breast Cancer Breakthroughs

  • atezolizumab (Tecentriq®)
    • In March 2019, the FDA approved the first checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy drug, an anti-PD-L1 antibody called atezolizumab (Tecentriq®), in combination with chemotherapy, for the treatment of triple-negative, metastatic breast cancer in patients whose tumors express the PD-L1 protein.
    • Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for about 10-15%  of all breast cancers. The term triple-negative breast cancer refers to the fact that the cancer cells don’t have estrogen or progesterone receptors and also don’t make too much of the protein called HER2. (The cells test “negative” on all 3 tests.) These cancers tend to be more common in women younger than age 40, who are African-American, or who have a BRCA1 mutation.
    • Triple-negative breast cancer differs from other types of invasive breast cancer in that they grow and spread faster, have limited treatment options, and have a worse prognosis (outcome)
  • A woman’s risk of breast cancer nearly doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than 15% of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.
  • Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. On average, women with a BRCA1 mutation have up to a 72% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. For women with a BRCA2 mutation, the risk is 69%. Breast cancer that is positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations tends to develop more often in younger women. Increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations.

A study found two cosmetics chemicals damage DNA of breast cells at low doses

  • A new approach to studying the effects of two common chemicals used in cosmetics and sunscreens found they can cause DNA damage in breast cells at surprisingly low concentrations, while the same dose did not harm cells without estrogen receptors.
  • The two compounds — examined in cells grown in the lab and in the mammary glands of mice were the ultraviolet filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3), also known as oxybenzone, and propylparaben (PP), an antimicrobial preservative found in cosmetics and other personal care products [2].

Clinical Trial: Evaluating Bioactivity in Breast Cancer Tumor Tissue After Intratumoral Administration of PVSRIPO

Researchers are conducting a pilot study to examine PVSRIPO bioactivity in tumor tissue after intratumoral administration of PVSRIPO in women with invasive breast cancer. PVSRIPO is the live attenuated, oral (Sabin) serotype 1 poliovirus vaccine containing a heterologous internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) derived from the human rhinovirus type 2 (HRV2).

The researchers hypothesize that the administration of PVSRIPO in the tumor causes inflammation, which will stimulate innate and adaptive immune activation in women with invasive breast cancer. Researchers are seeking to enroll 6 women with invasive breast cancer.