Posted by Larry Hoover on February 14, 2005, at 19:06:38
In reply to Biounavailable Copper, posted by Tooooja on February 14, 2005, at 11:07:50
> Hi,
>
> Does anybody know anything about biounavailable copper??
>
> This is an idea that mainly seems to come from hair tissue analysis people. They say it's a situation where paradoxically the body is in a state of copper deficiency and excess at the same time. A person gets into this state because they don't produce adequate amounts of ceruloplasmin(a protein carrier for copper) and free ionic copper floats around in the blood, in a state the body cannot use. The ionic copper then causes various types of disruption and ends up being stored in body tissue like the brain and liver where it dissrupts the organs function.
>
> The list of symptoms for this condition is pretty large including as you'd expect symptoms of both excess and deficient copper. Unfortunatley after a lot of scouting on the web, the only info I can turn up on this is by hair analysis people. So I am a bit doubtful of it's authenticity, since I am lacking any corroboration. Do any of you guys know anything about this.
>
> P.S. It's said to be a very prevalent condition in modern society, stemming from weakened adrenal glands which stimulate ceruloplasmin production. Typical symptoms are, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, poor concentration - the usual suspects.My initial reaction is hogus-bogus. Ceruloplasmin is a liver-based enzyme, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with adrenals, as far as I recall. Moreover, ceruloplasmin deficiency shows as a major disturbance in ferritin levels, as ceruloplasmin is a key participant in iron metabolism. And those "typical symptoms" are neither related to copper deficiency nor excess. Hair analysis alone raises a red flag. Problem is, my key reference site webserver is down right now.
Let me verify my impressions, and I'll get back to you.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:457586
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050131/msgs/457859.html