Minerals deficiency effects

The salts have been used for centuries to produce brilliant and permanent blue colors in porcelain, glass, pottery, tiles, and enamels. It is the principal ingredient in Sevre s and Thenard s blue. A solution of the chloride is used as a sympathetic ink. Cobalt carefully used in the form of the chloride, sulfate, acetate, or nitrate has been found effective in correcting a certain mineral deficiency disease in animals. 

In view of the increasing ecological concern and crop production requirements, future research should be directed to understanding the role of plant growth substances in controlling or modifying 1) radiation effects, 2) mineral deficiences,... 

In Japan, where mineral deficiency can be a nutritional problem, the beneficial effects of fructooligosaccharides on calcium absorption have been recognized in the labeling on dietary supplements since 1999 (Hidaka et al., 2001). 

Antibiotics. Long-term administration of antibiotics could lead to vitamin B6 deficiency, If symptoms of peripheral neuropathy develop (numbness and tingling of the extremities), administer vitamin B6. Sulfasalazine can decrease the absorption of folic acid, and trimethoprim can cause folate deficiency, hence the need to administer folic acid if there is evidence of deficiency. Rifampicin can cause disturbances in vitamin D metabolism and lead to osteomalacia. The absorption of tetracyclines can be reduced by calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc, while this antibiotic could also decrease the absorption of these minerals. This effect is probably least with minocycline and is not confirmed with doxycycline. Doses of minerals and antibiotic should be separated by at least 2 hours. The absorption of quinolones is reduced by cationic and anionic supplements. 

It is highly probable that in the reticulo-rumen many of the mineral deficiencies and/or toxicities noted in vitro would not occur because of the recycling of minerals and the detoxification ability of the microflora. However, from evidence available, some minerals can have a pronounced effect on lignocellulose breakdown and are in some instances the first limiting factor in rate and/or extent of lignocellulose degradation. 

As we saw in Chapter 4, our food supply has become relatively mineral-deficient in recent decades, mostly because of agricultural practices. It could be that Popper s observations are reflecting the effects of subtle mineral deficiencies, which for some people have dramatic effects on mood. Or perhaps there is some sort of genetic metabolic problem that makes some people particularly vulnerable to mood disorders when they don t get enough minerals. Scientists are still trying to figure it out. 

Usage of mineral supplements in western coimtries often prevents deficiency of minerals. However, effectiveness of bioavailability of some mineral supplements has been considered as insufficient. Natural sources of many trace elements are seaweed from all algal groups. Seaweed has the enormous ability to absorb minerals from a growth medium which results in high mineral concentrations in seaweed tissues often exceeding their concentration in the seawater, especially iodine and iron occurs in very high levels. 

Despite the importance of minerals for health, relatively few studies have examined extrusion cooking effects on these nutrients. Minerals are heat-stable and unlikely to become lost in the steam distillate at the die. Binding or entrapment of minerals is possible, but animal feeding studies have not demonstrated impaired growth from mineral deficiencies. 

Drugs Which May Affect the Utilization of Minerals by the Body. Certain commonly used drugs affect the utilization of both essential and nonessential minerals by the body. Furthermore, many of these medicines may be used to treat chronic conditions over long periods of time. Therefore, brief descriptions of the effects of some of the most frequently used drugs are presented, so that appropriate measures may be taken to prevent mineral deficiencies or toxicities ... 

Food Additives. Many natural and synthetic substances are added to foods to improve their color, odor, texture, and taste. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established strict regulations governing food additives so that there is little likelihood of any direct toxic effects resulting from the proper use of such ingredients. However, some of these substances affect the utilization of certain minerals. Such effects may not Ite important to people who eat a little of everything, but they may be responsible in part for mineral deficiencies or toxicities in people whose diets are narrowly limited by choice, economic circumstances, or other factors. Therefore, some effects of various food additives on mineral metabolism follow ... 

Hair levels of minerals—Hair is one of the last tissues of the body to be nourished and one of the first to show the effects of poor nutrition. Hence, there is much current interest in the use of hair as a test medium for various mineral deficiencies and/or toxicities. New analytical methods are now available for the rapid analysis of hair for more than a dozen minerals, so certain laboratories offer this service to the public. Some of the merits and demerits of these tests follow ... 

Urinalysis—Mineral deficiencies are likely to result in reductions in the amounts of the elements which are excreted in the urine, as the body attempts to conserve its dwindling supply of these essential nutrients. The trouble with urinalysis as a test for mineral nutrition status is that other factors, such as dehydration or stress, may raise or lower the rate of urinary excretion of minerals hence, the effects of nutritional status alone cannot be readily measured. 

Much of the information which has been published on the effect of malnutrition on human immune function comes from studies on this small pool of severely malnourished individuals where variations exist in the degree of PCM, the initiation of therapy, the inclusion of suitable controls and lack of data on specific vitamin or mineral deficiencies. As Edelman has pointed out there are imposed on these biochemical variables cultural, socioeconomic and hormonal conditions which all interact to modulate the human immune response (Edelman, 1977... 

V. Effect of Maternal Mineral Deficiency upon the Prenatal Development... 

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