Essential and Toxic Trace Elements and Vitamins in Human Health

Essential and Toxic Trace Elements and Vitamins in Human Health is a comprehensive guide to the wide variety of micronutrients that affect human health, including fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins that support diverse biochemical functions, trace elements with established and suggested links to health maintenance, and elements with known human toxicity such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead.

An essential reference text for nutritionists working in academia and functional food and supplement industries, dieticians, and clinicians, Essential and Toxic Trace Elements and Vitamins in Human Health provides an in-depth look at toxic trace elements and essential vitamins and minerals and their direct influence on the body’s overall health with expert research from renowned scientists.

• Presents a balanced scientific view of essential and nonessential micronutrients with an in-depth analysis of the biochemical functions each plays in human health
• Examines particular micronutrients in detail with coverage of clinical aspects, interaction with other micronutrients, immunological effects, cognitive functions and epigenetics
• Focuses on effective management of micronutrient deficiencies and on toxicity implications of overexposure

Dr. George Brewer is a recognized world expert on all aspects of copper, but also has expertise in zinc and other micronutrients. He worked for over 30 years on the inherited disease of copper toxicity, Wilson's disease. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers on the topic and developed two new therapies for the disease: zinc and tetrathiomolybdate. Due to his research, zinc was approved for Wilson's disease by the FDA in 1997 and is now the treatment of choice for maintenance therapy. Over the last decade he has been working on Alzheimer's disease; his research has demonstrated that Alzheimer’s patients are zinc-deficient and benefit from zinc therapy. Dr. Brewer has developed a new zinc formulation that is non-irritating and can be taken once daily. Over his career he has published over 430 papers and has written and edited numerous books.

Dr. Ananda Prasad was the first scientist to recognize the essentiality of zinc for human health and to recognize that zinc deficiency is a common problem globally in 1963. This led the US Congress to declare zinc as an essential nutrient for human health, and in 1974, the National Academy of Sciences established recommended dietary allowances for zinc. He has received many awards and honors for this discovery, including a Goldberger Award from the American Medical Association, an Outstanding Research Award from American College of Physicians, the Mahidol Award from the Kind of Thailand, the Medal of Honor from the Mayor of Lyon in France, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Claude Bernard University in Lyon. He has published over 300 papers and 15 books and is the founder and emeritus editor of the American Journal of Hematology.