VitAmin A and Zinc

hoosier1 · Post by **hoosier1** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:51 pm

All:

The nurse for my doctor at IU (who has a lousy bedside manner by the way) told me that deficiencies in Vitamin A and Zinc can produce diahrea and wants we to supplement my diet. Thoughts?

Rich

Post by **tex** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:37 pm

Well, I would say that if your D were "idiopathic", that might be worth trying, just to have something to try, but since you have a diagnosis of MC, the D has a known cause. If that nurse is an expert on vitamin supplements for people with MC, one would think that she or he would recommend the important stuff, (that we tend to actually be deficient in), such as Vitamins D and B-12.

Are you saying that you're not taking a basic multivitamin with all that stuff in it? It probably won't hurt you to try a supplement, but be careful with vitamin A, because if you get too much in your system, it will limit your ability to absorb vitamin D, and a vitamin D deficiency can increase your chances of developing serious D, in the form of Crohn's or UC. Vitamin A is one vitamin that can easily be overdone, with adverse results.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:37 pm

Rich
i started taking liquid zinc within a month of diagnosis, and i am still taking it. Either i am using all that i am taking or maybe i am not absorbing all that i am taking. Either way it is something that i will continue for the long term.

Zinc is a mineral that is vital to many biological functions such as immune resistance, wound healing, digestion, reproduction, physical growth, diabetes control, taste and smell
More than 300 enzymes in the human body require zinc for proper functioning. It is estimated that 3000 of the 100,000 or so proteins involved in human life contain zinc. Many cells secrete zinc, including the pancreas (which also secretes insulin), the salivary gland, and the prostate gland. Immune cells also secrete zinc. Zinc is an important mineral which is essential for protein synthesis and which helps to regulate the production of cells in the body's immune system.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/201 ... l[quote]Dr. Robert Edward Black of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., won the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for the discovery that zinc can both treat and prevent diarrhea, an infectious disease that takes the lives of 1.3 million children each year worldwide.

Following Black's discovery, the World Health Organization and UNICEF recommended the use of zinc to treat diarrhea, a potentially life-saving treatment that is now used in 40 low-income countries.[/quote]

Post by **tex** » Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:51 pm

I agree that taking zinc might bring more benefits than vitamin A, (unless you are truly deficient of vitamin A). Problems with night vision are indicative of a vitamin A deficiency.

Tex

hoosier1 · Post by **hoosier1** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 12:53 pm

Gabes and Tex,

Sadly, I am not taking a multivitamin. I know, I know. I should. So off to Walgreens this afternoon. I didn't get the sense that this nurse was an MC expert... Though she did think highly of herself and was very condescending. I am so disappointed by that. Where does all this arrogance come from?

At the end of the day, my healthcare system experiences continue to reinforce that I will only get help by helping myself, sticking to the diet (that part I think is going well), and participating in this board. And I knew that already.... Just wanted to get a second opinion and try to understand my glorious pelvic floor problems.

Thanks for your insight.

Rich
P.S. What is the best multivitamin that I can pick up locally? I realize this has probably been asked before.

Post by **tex** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 1:50 pm

Freeda probably makes one or more, but I don't know if you can get those locally. I use Centrum Silver, but be aware that it contains corn starch, in case that's a problem for you.

If you go to either of the Centrum Ultra versions, you get more of everything, but you also get soy, so I'm not interested in them.

I believe that Walgreens sells Theragran-M, (they bought the brand, as I recall), which contains more of everything, (including 100% of vitamin A RDA), and unless they've changed the formulation since I last used it, it is free of most allergens that we have to be concerned with, (including gluten, dairy, soy, corn,etc.).

Rich wrote:Where does all this arrogance come from?

Well, everyone has to have a certain amount of confidence in their own abilities, in order to function well. Maybe she tends to carry that to extremes, or maybe she was just having a bad day. After all, (as Polly can probably attest), working in the medical arena would probably be a pretty good gig, if it weren't for all those pesky patients that show up, demanding a cure, and expecting it right now.

Of course, she knows what she's doing, so she avoids that problem by specializing in young people, before they have a chance to turn into pesky patients.

Tex

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:32 pm

Hi rich, great post. This is always a good question given the importance of the supplements and the health of our gi systems.

Tex is correct about the vitamin d and Crohns disease, some of my early indicators of developing Crohns were problems with my teeth and I never have issues with them. About 3 years ago now I had a measured vitamin d level of 2 and this was in the late summer. My GI doc thinks that played a part in developing the Crohns and MC

Joe