| March
12, 2007
Low Serum Zinc a Risk Factor for Coronary Events
in Type 2 Diabetics
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Mar 09 - In middle-aged
type 2 diabetics, a low blood level of zinc is an independent
risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) events, a study in
the March 2007 issue of Diabetes Care shows.
Finnish researchers assessed CHD mortality and the incidence
of MI in relation to serum zinc levels in 1,050 people, aged 45
to 64, with type 2 diabetes diagnosed at least 8 years earlier.
During 7 years of follow up, 156 subjects died from CHD and 254
had a fatal or non-fatal MI.
According to Dr. Minna Soinio from University of Turku and colleagues,
the average serum zinc level was statistically significantly lower
in men and women who died from CHD than in those who did not (p
= 0.016 and p = 0.022, respectively).
Subjects with serum zinc levels of 14.1 mol/L or lower (the lowest
quartile) had a higher risk of CHD death compared with subjects
with serum zinc levels of > 14.1 mol/L (20.8% versus 12.8%;
p = 0.001).
Nonfatal or fatal MI rates in the corresponding groups were 30.5%
and 22.0%, respectively (p = 0.005), the investigators report
in the March issue of Diabetes Care.
In Cox regression analyses adjusting for age and sex, subjects
in the lowest quartile of zinc had a 1.81-fold higher CHD mortality
rate and a 1.4-fold higher risk for MI compared with subjects
in the upper three zinc quartiles.
Further adjustment for lipid profile, duration of diabetes, HbA1C,
hypertension, renal function, smoking, BMI, type of type of treatment,
and area of residence did not alter the association appreciably.
Dr. Soinio and colleagues point out in their report that this
study was conducted in the pre-statin era. "It would be interesting
to see whether low serum zinc level also predicts CHD events in
the statin era," they write.
While further studies are needed, they conclude, "theoretically
our results are in favor of the possibility that zinc supplementation
might be useful in preventing atherosclerotic complications in
patients with type 2 diabetes."
Diabetes Care 2007;30:523-528.
Source: www.medscape.com
Comments:
This study again is evidence of the importance of cellular
micronutrients for cardiovascular health. The mechanism
of how zinc works has not been studied here, but the study
shows the possibility that zinc supplementation might be
useful in preventing atherosclerotic complications in patients
with type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately there has been focus
on one nutrient only. Dr. Rath has shown the root cause
of atherosclerosis and also the effectiveness of the nutrient
synergy approach in balancing metabolic pathways in the
body. In his extensive research and clinical studies, Dr.
Rath showed that chronic deficiencies of essential cellular
nutrients like lysine, proline vitamin C and others, results
in arterial wall damage leading to atherosclerosis. Diabetes
significantly increases the chance of developing atherosclerotic
deposits, and increases the risk of heart attack. Supplementation
with synergistically combined essential nutrients like vitamin
C, lysine, proline along with minerals like zinc and others,
helps in the repair of the arterial wall structure and thus
the reversal of the atherosclerotic process. Besides, nutrients
like Vitamin C are also beneficial in regulating blood sugar
levels in diabetics. Please refer to Dr. Rath's publication
"Why animals don't get heart attacks...but people do!"
and our research web site http://www.drrathresearch.org/
for more details of the clinical studies in heart disease
and diabetes.
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