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References
[or go directly to a representative sample of
50 abstracts of published papers from the public archives of the National Library of Medicine]
[or go to the 590 listed references for the poster for the 8th International Conference on System Science In Health Care, September 1 - 4, 2004, University of Geneva].
Background:
Although scientists have long known that our bodies contain more than 72 trace elements, all but the 8 long known nutritional trace elements were dismissed out of hand as unimportant and of no consequence, solely due to their miniscule amounts in our systems. Their presence in our bodies was presumed to be incidental, like a few molecules of earth from a lettuce, or baked potato. It was not until 1975 that a few other than the 8 known trace elements have been begun to be investigated, and most of this research came only in the last decade. The count of the trace elements now proven to be indispensable to the normal function of our metabolism and immune systems currently stands at 14. This leaves well over 50 nutritional trace elements unrecognized, uninvestigated, and still 'unknown'.
Meanwhile, our modern agriculture still only maintains a paltry 5 trace elements in its soils, and 3 others, as mentioned elsewhere, are added at other stages of our nutrition. This leaves practically all of our daily food severely deficient in over 60 natural trace elements.
Since then (1975), thousands of articles and papers have been published regarding 6 newly recognized nutritional trace elements (chromium, nickel, silicon, arsenic, tin and vanadium). Here, I can list only a few 'milestone' articles and papers of what is now a huge body of biomedical literature.
Instead of just citing the following articles, I have included short excerpts of these articles here.
"Miracle Metal" Equinox, July/August 1985 (Article)
"When Dr. John McNeill, dean of pharmaceutical sciences at UBC, and his colleagues Clayton Heilinger and Arun Tahiliani were testing vanadium - a common trace element found in seaweed - on diabetes induced female rats to see if it would prevent the development of cardiac problems, they made a startling discovery. Vanadium not only improved the rats' cardiovascular performance, it also regulated the levels of glucose in their blood and prevented the formation of cataracts. In fact, the rats that were fed vanadium in their drinking water appeared normal in all respects. ... Adds McNeill: 'The fact that vanadium appears to fix the whole system is a very nice discovery. It was not something we originally intended to look for.'
On average, an adult consumes one to four milligrams of vanadium every day from such foods as meat, milk, vegetables and bread: fish and marine plants are particularly good sources. The biological importance of vanadium, however, is largely unknown. A natural part of the regulatory system, it is believed to prevent cholesterol formation both in blood vessels and in the central nervous system. ... However, says McNeill, 'we never thought vanadium would do it [mimic insulin] so well. From everything we looked at, the rats were completely normal."
Comments: McNeill went on to do vanadium trials with diabetic rabbits, with the same dramatic results. Planned human trials have been delayed do to lack of funding.
Vanadium - one of the many 'unknown', (dismissed) and missing nutritional trace elements - is presently not monitored and maintained in agricultural soils. As the direct result of this and much other research, vanadium is now available in some vitamin-cum-minerals (trace elements) nutritional supplements, such as "Centrum", "Century", "Spectrum", "Optimum" and "Balance".
And while the deficiency or lack of vanadium in our daily nutrition has proven to be a central factor in the onset and development of diabetes, it is, in my opinion, far from the whole story. Like calcium and magnesium, none of the nutritional trace elements work in isolation. Many other trace elements - most of them long dismissed as unimportant and presently still 'unknown' - are required for the normal function of our metabolisms and immune systems.
It has become known, for instance, that zinc and magnesium also reduce the blood sugar level, and that diabetic patients are often deficient in zinc, magnesium, chromium, copper and manganese. For these reasons I believe that the proposed vanadium trials will not be as successful as they could be in conjunction with the full natural spectrum of the 72+ nutritional trace elements.
"Zinc Fingers" D. Rhodes and A. Klug, Scientific American, February 1993
"They play a key part in regulating the activity of genes in many species, from yeasts to humans. Ten years ago, no one knew they existed."
Synopsis: This is one of the most significant discoveries of this decade, and applies directly, and powerfully, to the crucially vital roles of the trace elements in our daily nutrition. Since this landmark article does not contain any short, descriptive passages suitable for quoting, this synopsis will have to do.
The transcription of our genetic information into amino acids, proteins, RNA, messenger RNA, and new DNA (as in reproduction) requires highly specific molecules called "transcription factors" which can 'read-out' the information stored in our DNA and transcribe it into functioning proteins. These very specific DNA-reading "transcription factor" molecules have anywhere from two to 29 "fingers" which fit, like a sophisticated key into a high-precision lock, into the appropriate stretches of our DNA.
"Transcription factors" are made from long strings of amino acids, which are folded into highly specific shapes with many "fingers" - somewhat like we fold a ribbon into loops (or "fingers") to make a Christmas bow.
Now then, and this is the crucial part of the authors' discovery. The 'glue' which forms the straight ribbon of amino acids into finger-like loops is an atom of zinc at the base of every "finger".
Comments: The conclusions are stunning, powerful, and far-reaching. If there happens to be a zinc deficiency in the organism, the "fingers" of the transcription factors cannot be formed, and although all the genetic information is there, it cannot be transcribed, and used by the organism - be this a yeast cell, a frog, a mouse, or a human. Consequently, the organism will be defective, and its metabolism and immune functions will be severely compromised.
This is the first discovery that the trace elements - there are undoubtedly others than zinc as well - perform a profoundly vital function right at the genetic base of our existence. Hence, the consequences of a zinc deficiency will be very wide-ranging - from many kinds of birth defects to compromised and abnormal metabolic, mental, neurological, endocrine and immune functions. Worse, a zinc deficiency in the mother can result in faulty genes in her foetus, due to the sabotaged transcription of her DNA into the DNA of her foetus. These children with faulty genes will then pass on their genetic defects to their subsequent offspring and following generations!
In this light, it may well be that the recently discovered abnormal proteins called 'prions' - now strongly implicated as the cause of 'mad cow' and Kreuztfeld Jacob disease - arise from the lack or deficiency of certain trace elements, which could easily result in the folding of proteins into abnormal shapes. Most ominously, and although our modern agriculture monitors and maintains zinc in its soils, the widespread incidence of birth defects - and particularly the recent sharp rise in heart- and uro-genital defects in our new borns (there is a sharp increase in boys born with their ural opening in other places than the tip of the penis) - points to an insufficiency of zinc in our daily nutrition.
"The Prion Diseases"; S. B. Prusiner, Scientific American, Jan. 1995
"Prions" - proteinaceous infectious particles - are otherwise normal proteins of our bodies, except for their abnormally folded shape. These prions can also multiply, simply by inducing our normal protein to change its shape.
"Prions are indeed responsible for transmissible and inherited disorders of protein conformation. They can also cause sporadic disease, in which neither transmission between individuals nor inheritance is evident. Moreover, there are hints that the prions causing the diseases explored thus far may not be the only ones. Prions made of rather different proteins may contribute to other neurodegenerative diseases that are quite prevalent in humans. They might even participate in illnesses that attack muscles.
The known prion diseases, all fatal, are sometimes referred to as spongiform encephalopathies. They are so named because they cause the brain to become riddled with holes. These ills, which can brew for years (or even for decades in humans) are widespread in animals (scrapie, 'mad cow' disease, wasting disease of mule and elk, mink, cat and pig spongiform encephalopathies, CJD in humans)."
Comments: Given the discovery that zinc performs a crucial function in the folding of proteins ("Zinc Fingers" - above), there is a great likely hood that the lack of sufficient zinc, or any one of the other many unknown and missing trace elements, is the cause of the abnormal folding of protein, and hence, of 'mad cow' and similar diseases. (The lack of a crucial element results in a lower state of complexity, as well as a lower state of molecular energy. Since, and according to the laws of physics, lower states of energy are 'sought' by all atoms and molecules, such lower state energy configurations of molecules will be attractive to other molecules. Hence the proliferation of 'prions').
This conclusion is supported by two factors; the incidence of scrapie in England is highly localized. Only certain farms harbour this disease - while others have been and remain completely free of scrapie. And even if the entire animal stock of affected farms is replaced with healthy sheep, they invariably come down with the disease. Even more remarkably, known scrapie infected sheep shipped to Australia have there become completely healthy ("Lethal Legacy", Dr. Stephen Dealler, Bloombury Publishing PLc, London, England, 1996). This persistent 'spottiness' of the incidence of scrapie points straight to trace element deficiencies at the affected farms. And so does the swift and complete recovery of affected sheep after being shipped to Australia.
That these diseases can be sporadic, is another indication that nutritional trace elements are involved (different pastures; different feed supplier, CT.). To me, at least, this is a clear indication that the cause is nutritional, and that the 'unknown' and long neglected, and hence exhausted or seriously deficient nutritional trace elements are the root cause. Pure logic dictates that our livestock is just as severely affected by the lack or deficiency of the 72+ nutritional trace elements as we are.
"Mitochondrial DNA in Aging and Disease"; D. Wallace, Scientific American, Aug. '97
"At age five a seemingly healthy boy inexplicably began to lose his hearing, which disappeared entirely before he turned 18. In the interim, he was diagnosed as hyperactive and suffered occasional seizures. By the time he was 23, his vision had declined; he had cataracts, glaucoma and progressive deterioration of the retina. Within five years he had experienced severe seizures, and his kidneys had failed. He died at the age of 28 from his kidney disorder and a systemic infection.
At the root of his problem was a minute imperfection in his genes, but not in the familiar ones residing in the long, linear strings of chromosomal DNA that populate every cell nucleus. Instead, he was killed by an abnormality in tiny circles of lesser known DNA located in his mitochondria, the 'minute' power plants of all cells.
Scientists have known since 1963 that mitochondria in animals (and humans) harbour their own genes, but errors in those genes were not linked to human ailments until 1988."
Listed diseases caused by mitochondrial gene defects:
Alzheimer's disease - progressive loss of cognitive capacity
CPEO [chronic progressive external opthalmoplagia] - paralysis of eye muscles and mitochondrial myopathy, (see below)
Diabetes mellitus - high blood sugar levels and various complications
Dystonia - abnormal movements involving muscular rigidity, frequently accompanied by degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain
KSS [Kearns-Sayre Syndrome] - CPEO combined with such disorders as retinal deterioration, heart disease, hearing loss, diabetes and kidney failure
Leigh's Syndrome - progressive loss of motor and verbal skills and degeneration of the basal ganglia; a potentially lethal childhood disease
LHON [Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy] - permanent or temporary blindness stemming from damage to the optic nerve
MELAS [mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes]
- dysfunction of brain tissue {seizures, paralysis, dementia}, combined with mitochondrial myopathy and a toxic buildup of acid in the blood
MRRF [myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibers] - seizures combined with mitochondrial myopathy, may involve hearing loss and dementia
Mitochondrial myopathy - deterioration of muscle, manifested by weakness and intolerance for exercise; muscle often display ragged red fibers which are filled with abnormal mitochondria
NARP [neurogenic muscle weakness, ataxia and retinitis pigmentosa] - loss of muscle strength and coordination, accompanied by regional brain degeneration and deterioration of the retina
Pearson's syndrome - childhood bone marrow dysfunction and pancreatic failure; survivors often progress to KSS"
Comments: As horribly macabre as all this sounds, there is supreme good news - if entirely unofficial. In the winter of 1985/86 I had come down with one of these diseases; mitochondrial myopathy (MS). The physician I went to see said: "Go home; there is nothing that can be done for you." So, I went home and tried to resign myself to an early demise (I was 50 years-old then), figuring that I would not see the next year's spring at the rate I was going.
Just to get rid of the incessant colds I caught that winter, and based on my Salt Spring Island experience with our vegetables grown with seaweed (they cured and prevented colds), I decided to include a helping of seafood in my daily nutrition, as the most readily available alternative to our 72+ trace element vegetables.
As expected, the colds promptly disappeared but, and to my boundless astonishment, so did all symptoms of the 'incurable' disease over the next few months. Three months later, and to this day, I found myself in complete and robust health again. Mind you, the symptoms of the 'incurable' disease return upon neglect of the "something from the sea every day" nutritional routine, just to disappear just as promptly upon its resumption. It works like clockwork, which completely rules out 'spontaneous remissions'.
The implications are stunning; the complete range of the 72+ biological trace elements in one's nutrition (via the daily helping of seafood) cures and prevents even the totally 'incurable' diseases caused by defects in mitochondrial DNA - in the DNA of the microscopic generators of our life-energy. Moreover, when mitochondrial DNA defects can be cured and prevented by the full range of the 72+ nutritional trace elements in our nutrition, there is every hope that many human DNA defects can also be cured and prevented. This also tallies very nicely with the discovery of "Zinc Fingers".
"Major Disorders of Mind and Brain"; Gershon & Reider, Scientific American, Sept. '92
"Rates of major depression in every age group have steadily increased in several of the developed countries since the 1940s. This trend was first spotted in 1982 in an epidemiological study in Sweden. A similar increase in suicide over the same four decades occurred in Alberta, Canada. These findings have been firmly established as birth-cohort effects: suicide rates among 15- to 19 year-olds, for instance, were 10 times higher for those in the late 1950s than for those born in the late 1930s. Similar birth-cohort rates appeared, over the decades, in suicide and unipolar disorder in the U.S., in bipolar disorder (manic-depressive) in the U.S. and Switzerland, and in alcoholism in males in the U.S. Rates of depression, mania and suicide continue to rise as each new birth-cohort ages, a pattern that harbours ominous public health consequences.
Some environmental factor, or interaction of genes with the environment, must therefore push susceptible people over the threshold of illness. This relation clearly implies an interaction between genes and some environmental factor, which must have been changing continuously over the past decades. The factor remains a mystery."
Comments: That the deficiency or lack of many nutritional trace elements in our daily food also affects our mental health is a given. And while I am far from an expert in these matters, several factors stand out. First of all, the vital role of all but the 8 long known nutritional trace elements remains largely and generally unknown in the medical sciences. When I talked to one of the two leading experts in 'mad cow' disease last year (1997), the 'story' of the 72+ nutritional trace elements was news to him. It is a brand-new field - often called the "Ultra Trace Elements" - and as such, not yet common knowledge in the medical sciences. Consequently, most scientists are as yet unaware of this factor.
Further; the sharp increase in major depression and unipolar and bipolar mental disease is most marked in the developed nations - exactly those nations which practice modern chemical agriculture. This increase in mental disorders is consistent with the slow decrease and exhaustion of the originally present but long neglected 72+ nutritional trace elements in agricultural soils.
Lithium, although still far from fully understood, is well known to balance the extremes of the wild mood swings of manic-depressive disorder. Normally and naturally present in all soils, lithium is one of the many trace elements not recognized, and hence not monitored and maintained in the soil by our modern agriculture. Consequently, lithium has become depleted or exhausted in agricultural soils, and hence, is now deficient in our daily nutrition.
Given the well known balancing effect lithium has on the adrenergic and cholinergic polarities of our brain, and given the neglect and slow depletion of lithium (and other still unrecognized trace elements) in our agricultural soils and food, the conclusion is obvious. We will see a parallel increase in extremes of behaviour in our societies. I believe that our daily news provide ample proof.
"Uncovering New Clues To Cancer Risk";
F. Perera, Scientific American, May 1996
"The discovery that genetic damage lies at the root of cancer does not mean most malignancies stem from the inheritance of seriously flawed genes. In fact, such inheritance probably explains no more than 5 percent of all cancers in the U.S. The genetic disruptions that transforms a normal cell into a malignant one typically arises in the course of living - via complex interactions between carcinogens and the body's systems for contending with them. Indeed, whether any agent contributes to cancer depends not only on the extent of an individual's exposure but also on the effectiveness of the body's defensive responses - responses now known to vary from one individual to another, sometimes profoundly."
Comment: Although this landmark article focuses on cancer, it has far wider applications. It marks the first fundamental attempt to answer the baffling question why some people get sick, while others - in the same or very similar circumstances - don't. As in a family, for instance, where one child catches the flu, or the mumps, while its siblings don't. This article describes and identifies several causative factors and stages, and the sequences which can either result in a disease, or not.
It is an outstanding work, particularly since it also lays much of the groundwork for, and identifies the factors which answer the question why some people develop diseases caused by trace element deficiencies, while others, in very similar circumstances don't. Moreover, even the short quote above contains strong hints that trace element deficiencies may also play a role in the development of cancer ('genetic disruptions' - see "Mitochondrial DNA In Aging and Disease"; and 'transformation of a normal cell into a malignant one' - see "Zinc Fingers").
The author identifies the following factors and stages in the development of a disease.
1) Exposure (either to disease agent, or to trace element deficiencies);
2) Activation (individual body biochemistry);
3) Insufficient detoxification in the body (lack of trace elements, vitamins) ;
4) Reaction with DNA (genetic predisposition, or not) or proteins;
5) Insufficient levels of antioxidants (specific trace elements, vitamins);
6) Conversion of healthy to abnormal genes (see "Zinc Fingers");
7) Inefficient gene repair (the "Zinc Fingers" principle again);
8) Genetic mutation (see "Zinc Fingers");
9) Abnormal cell behaviour (see "Mitochondrial DNA In Aging and Disease");
10) Inefficient immune response (lack of needed trace elements);
11) Onset of disease.
This process can be interrupted, or terminated at any stage, depending entirely upon the genetic and biochemical make-up of the individual.
In the case of the many missing trace elements, this process is beset by an immense array of individual circumstances. From all the information given in this site, it is already clear that the amount of seafood in the individual's diet is a major factor. And this depends entirely upon personal preference, taste and habit.
Another major factor is the amount of trace elements in the drinking water of the individual, which varies widely from region to region and place to place. And whether the local food crops are irrigated by rain water (very low in trace elements), or ground water (high in certain, but not all trace elements), is yet another factor.
Income is also a factor. Whether people's nutrition consists mostly of white bread and peanut butter, baloney sandwiches, and macaroni and cheese; or whether they can afford a far more sound and varied diet is a huge factor. So is a liking for imported food from those countries practicing a different agriculture.
In other words, there are a myriad factors which affect the presence and amounts of the nutritional trace elements, and they vary from individual to individual. As daunting as this may sound, if we had an agriculture which supplies us with the complete 72+ natural range of the nutritional trace elements, none of us would have to worry about anyone of these factors, and we could concentrate our efforts upon the elimination of the chemical pollutants that affect our health. A POISON-FREE AGRICULTURE (in these pages) is another huge step in this direction.
Please note: Environmental and health pollutants are unfortunately responsible for serious injuries and illnesses every year. If you had a similar experience contact Irwin Mitchell solicitors.
"Symptoms of Zinc Deficiency In Rats"; "The Neuropathology Of The Trace Elements", L. Drosti & R. Smith, The Human Press Inc. 1984
"Curly tail; missing digits; hydrocephalus (elephant brain); exencephalus (exposed brain); anophthalmia (no eyes); cleft plate; spinal curvature; clubbed foot; herniations; heart, lung and urogenital abnormalities."
No comment necessary: all of these birth defects are well known among us, and the incidence of heart and urogenital abnormalities in our newborns are rising sharply.
"New Essential Trace Elements of The Life Sciences"; F.H. Nielsen;
Re: chromium, nickel, molybdenum, arsenic, selenium, vanadium.
Abstract: "It is likely that some of the trace elements are more important in human nutrition than is now generally acknowledged".
Journal of Biological Trace Element Research, July, 1990
Please note: As shown by Nielsen's pioneering research, and his comment, it was not until 1990 that our scientists began to awake to the fact that our bodies need more than the then 'known' 8 trace elements.
"Nutritional Requirements For Boron, Silicon, Vanadium, Nickel and Arsenic";
F.H. Nielsen;
Abstract: "The biochemical importance of the ultra trace elements in human nutrition."
FASED Journal, Sept. 1991
Comments: Finally, the facts are beginning to emerge, thanks to one of the first brave pioneers - he had to work counter to the deeply ingrained academic 'wisdom' that the 'unknown' trace elements are of no importance - in the new discipline of the ultra trace elements. Although the fact that we also need a micro-trace of arsenic came as a bit of a surprise. What is most appalling though is that boron was long known to be vital to crop health, but was considered unnecessary for human health. Duh?
"Bis(maltolato)oxyvanadium (IV) Is A Potent Insulin Mimic"; J. H. McNeill
Abstract: Unlike insulin, vanadium also cures and prevents the eye and cardiovascular diseases associated with diabetes mellitus.
Journal of Medical Chemistry; April 17. 1992: 1489 - 91
"Clinical Implications Of Trace Elements In Endocrinology"; J. Neve;
Re: iodine, zinc, selenium, copper, chromium, manganese, vanadium
Journal of Biological Trace Element Research, Jan. - Mar. 1992
Another pioneer in the field of the ultra trace elements. And again, zinc and copper were long known to be vital to plant health, but were considered unimportant in human health. Go figure.
NEXT
50 abstracts of published papers on the trace elements,
as a sample of the over 129.000 papers on trace elements in
the public archives of the National Library of Medicine.
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