This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

This post has nothing to do with MS. It does have to do with a nutrient that is low on average in MS patients, which can be low in many individuals, and which can manifest in many different ways. Once again, that nutrient is zinc. The manifestation of the hour is C. difficile infection.

Two local Hamilton hospitals have now reported new C. difficile outbreaks. One fatality to date.

Next door in Burlington, back in 06/07 Joseph Brant Hospital's outbreak killed 91 people.

I picked up on this news specifically because my mother had me watch an episode of David Suzuki's "The Nature of Things", entitled "The Autism Enigma". A bacterial culprit brought to light during this episode was Clostridium. It rang a bell from having taken fairly recent looks at the types of bacteria which respond best to zinc treatment (that would be gram-positive bacteria, such as Clostridium).

Then I flashed to the C (Clostridium) difficile outbreak and started putting two and two together. My hypothesis is that the people who are infected with C. difficile, are zinc deficient and therefore more susceptible to infection by bacteria and viruses.

Last night I saw a piece of news on TV which I have not yet been able to track down online. A man by the name of Keith Lewis was interviewed, and showed a picture of his girlfriend, who is one of the unfortunate patients who has been infected with C. difficile at Hamilton General Hospital. He mentioned that the reason she was in the hospital in the first place, was for a bladder infection. He said her immune system was just destroyed (I'm not quoting verbatim but that was the gist of it). Of course I'm thinking, all this is helping confirm my suspicions.

On to the research:

Co-morbidity, not age predicts adverse outcome in clostridium difficile colitis
World Journal of Gastroenterology http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/6/198.pdf
"...Death was strongly predicted by the use of penicillin-like antibiotics plus clindamycin, in the presence of hypoalbuminemia, refractory sepsis, and cardiac disease (P=0.00005)."

So I'll look for research linking poor zinc status to antibiotics, low albumin, sepsis, and cardiac disease.

First, antibiotics. These patients must already be fighting bacterial infections of some description to be using them. I suggest that if you need antibiotics, your zinc status is likely inadequate. Zinc may not be the only player, but it is highly suspect.

A Molecular Mechanism for Bacterial Susceptibility to Zinc
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/in ... at.1002357

Zinc and infection: a review
http://www.josorge.com/publications/Cit ... JL/007.pdf

Now for the hypoalbuminuria. Another zinc connection:

The effect of severe zinc deficiency on serum levels of albumin, transferrin, and prealbumin in man.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/34/9/1655.short
Abstract
"Concentrations of three serum transport proteins, albumin, transferrin, and prealbumin, were determined in seven patients with severe zinc deficiency. Zinc deficiency was manifested not only by depressed serum zinc concentrations, but also by skin lesions typical of zinc deficiency that corrected with zinc supplementation only. Concentrations of all three serum proteins were significantly depressed in zinc-deficient patients compared to healthy controls, and levels of all three proteins improved or corrected with a short period of zinc supplementation as the sole form of therapeutic intervention. Prealbumin levels dropped and corrected most rapidly, probably due in part to its short half-life of 2 days. This study demonstrates that zinc plays an important role in protein metabolism in man and is necessary for the maintenance of normal levels of certain transport proteins. These results support the possibility that zinc deficiency may alter tissue availability of other nutrients such as vitamin A or iron through its effect on transport proteins."

And, sepsis.

Serum zinc in critically ill adult patients with acute respiratory failure
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21827444
"...The median [IQR] serum zinc levels in non-infectious, sepsis and septic shock patients were 5.0 [3.1-7.1], 5.1 [3.5-7.3] and 3.8 [2.6-5.9] μmol/l, respectively, P<0.01."

5.1 umol/L. that is very, very deficient.

And finally, cardiac disease:

Serum zinc level and coronary heart disease events in patients with type 2 diabetes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17327315
"...Our aim was to investigate whether serum zinc level predicts coronary heart disease (CHD) events in subjects with type 2 diabetes... Serum zinc values were available from 1,050 subjects... During the follow-up, 156 patients died from CHD and 254 patients had a fatal or nonfatal MI. Patients with serum zinc concentration < or = 14.1 micromol/l at baseline had a higher risk for death from CHD than patients with serum zinc level > 14.1 micromol/l (20.8 and 12.8%, respectively; P = 0.001) ... In Cox regression analyses, low serum zinc concentration was significantly associated with CHD mortality (relative risk [RR] 1.7, P = 0.002) and all CHD events (RR 1.37, P = 0.030), even after adjustment for confounding variables... In this large cohort of type 2 diabetic patients, low serum zinc level was an independent risk factor for CHD events."

QED.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

canada has the dirtiest hospitals in the western world .

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/dirtyhospitals/

i was just chatting with someone about the hygiene issue last night. it is extremely important to be clean, but not, imho, if you fail to address patients' weak immune systems as a result, since the flaws are masked by the absence of challenges.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Zinc and immunocompetence in the elderly: baseline data on zinc nutriture and immunity in unsupplemented subjects
http://www.ajcn.org/content/46/1/101.full.pdf

woo hoo! a full text link, and it's well worth having a squint. table 2 on page 104 is awesome. the single individual with the best immune response to antigens had a plasma zinc level of 19.9 umol/L!!!
table 3 is also great, you can clearly see the divide in levels between responders and non-responders.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

A comparison of zinc metabolism, inflammation, and disease severity in critically ill infected and noninfected adults early after intensive care unit admission
http://www.ajcn.org/content/93/6/1356.full.pdf


critically ill infected avg plasma zinc level = 8.7 umol/L (wow, almost as bad as me at my worst! :S - wonder what the ammonia levels are like)
sepsis plasma avg zinc level = 6.9 umol/L.

so. how much you wanna bet no-one in these hospitals is assessing zinc status :S

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Copper door handles and taps kill 95% of superbugs in hospitals
By Fiona Macrae
UPDATED: 20:34 EST, 28 October 2008

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Hope: Copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs, the study found
Making door handles, taps and light switches from copper could help the country beat superbugs, scientists say.
A study found that copper fittings rapidly killed bugs on hospital wards, succeeding where other infection control measures failed.
In the trial at Selly Oak hospital, in Birmingham, copper taps, toilet seats and push plates on doors all but eliminated common bugs.
It is thought the metal 'suffocates' germs, preventing them breathing. It may also stop them from feeding and destroy their DNA.
Lab tests show that the metal kills off the deadly MRSA and C difficile superbugs.
It also kills other dangerous germs, including the flu virus and the E coli food poisoning bug.
Although the number of cases of MRSA and C difficile is falling, the two bugs still claim thousands of lives a year.
During the ten-week trial on a medical ward, a set of taps, a lavatory seat and a push plate on an entrance door were replaced with copper versions. They were swabbed twice a day for bugs and the results compared with a traditional tap, lavatory seat and push plate elsewhere in the ward.
The copper items had up to 95 per cent fewer bugs on their surface whenever they were tested, a U.S. conference on antibiotics heard yesterday.
Professor Tom Elliott, the lead researcher and a consultant microbiologist at the hospital, said: 'The findings of 90 to 95 per cent killing of those organisms, even after a busy day on a medical ward with items being touched by numerous people, is remarkable.
'I have been a consultant microbiologist for several decades. This is the first time I have seen anything like copper in terms of the effect it will have in the environment.
'It may well offer us another mechanism for trying to defeat the spread of infection.'
Researcher Professor Peter Lambert, of Aston University, Birmingham, said: 'The numbers decreased always on copper but not on the steel surfaces.'
If further hospital-based trials prove as successful, the researchers would like copper fixtures and fittings installed in hospitals around the country.
Doorknobs, taps, light switches, toilet seats and handles and bathroom 'grab rails' could all be ripped out and replaced with copper versions.

Making door handles, taps and light switches from copper could help the country beat superbugs, scientists say

Although it is usually thought to be an expensive metal, copper is actually a similar price to stainless steel, the researchers said. Nursing homes and even our houses could also benefit from the metal's ability to wipe out dangerous bugs.
The healing power of copper has been recognised for thousands of years.
More than 4,000 years ago, the Egyptians used it to sterilise wounds and drinking water and the Aztecs treated skin conditions with the metal.
The ancient Greeks also knew of its benefits. Hippocrates, sometimes called 'the father of medicine', noted that it could be used to treat leg ulcers.
Today, copper is a common constituent in medicines including antiseptic and antifungal creams. It is also believed to have anti-inflammatory properties. Many of those with arthritis wear copper bangles.
Although they provide relief to many, there is no scientific evidence that they work.
Copper is present in our diet in trace amounts and plays an important role in the formation of red blood cells and in keeping our blood vessels, nerves and bones healthy


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z22jQev7JY

abstract link:
Metallic Copper as an Antimicrobial Surface (2011)
http://aem.asm.org/content/77/5/1541.short
"The antimicrobial activity of copper and copper alloys is now well established, and copper has recently been registered at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the first solid antimicrobial material."
also:

Plasma deposited metal Schiff-base compounds as antimicrobials (2011)
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleL ... c1nj20091g
"This paper details the synthesis, characterisation including crystal structure, and testing for antimicrobial efficacy of two compounds: a zinc centred bis(N-allylsalicylideneiminato)-zinc (ZSB) and its known copper analogue, bis(N-allylsalicylideneiminato)-copper (CSB). Differences in antimicrobial efficacy of the two compounds were observed, suggesting possible mechanisms for antimicrobial activity. The ZSB system was plasma deposited under various pulse conditions onto non-woven fabric, and the antimicrobial efficacy of the resultant film measured for Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These results suggest the potential utility of this compound as an effective antimicrobial thin film, and confirm the critical role the ligands play in effecting antimicrobial activity."

Antibacterial Surface Coatings from Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Embedded in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel Surface Layers (2012)
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 0/abstract
"nanocomposite films exhibit bactericidal behavior towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) for a ZnO concentration as low as ≈0.74 μg cm−2 (1.33 mmol cm−3), which is determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry."

at some point, we'll realize we can apply the zinc just as effectively from the inside...

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com