Author
 |
Klevay, Leslie |
|
Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2000 Publication Date: 2/1/2000 Citation: Klevay, L.M. 2000. Cardiovascular disease from copper deficiency - a history. Journal of Nutrition. 130:489S-492S. Interpretive Summary: The history of the effects of copper deficiency on the cardiovascular system is summarized briefly. Illness from copper deficiency first was found in cattle in Australia (Falling Disease) a half century ago. Since then a large variety of cardiovascular abnormalities have been produced experimentally in several species of animals. Evidence that these findings are germane to people is derived from chemical, rather than anatomical changes: e.g., low copper in human hearts and in white blood cells of people with partially blocked arteries that supply the heart with blood, decreased activities of enzymes dependent on copper in people with vascular disease and the easy access people have to diets low in copper. Copper depletion experiments with men and women have increased blood cholesterol and raised blood pressure; these changes in physiology are suggestive of increased heart disease risk. Technical Abstract: The nutritional essentiality of copper was established for mammals when anemic and stunted Rat 621 grew and built hemoglobin rapidly after his diet of whole cow's milk was supplemented with approximately a mg of copper sulfate 6 days per week. A decade and a half would pass before copper and the cardiovascular system were linked. As often occurs in nutrition, illness of domestic animals prompted nutritional discovery. Falling Disease was an enzootic disease of dairy cattle characterized by seasonal incidence and sudden death. The disease constituted a grave economic problem. Some herds experienced an annual mortality of 5 to 40%. Although sudden death had been reported in bulls, it was most frequently observed when cows were being brought in to be milked or were being driven out to paddock. Some cows had fallen on the milker following a bellow and a toss of the head. Death frequently appeared to be instantaneous. Although the authors mentioned anemia, excessive and cloudy pericardial fluid and low copper status of both animals and pasture, the disease was said to be of undetermined aetiology. Although it seemed very unlikely that a mineral deficiency per se could be the cause of sudden death its contribution was suspected. |
