Editor’s note
December 2024

From zinc in infections, to vitamin D in joint replacement, to B3 in COPD, fatty acids in cancer…the reports have flooded in this month about researchers discovering the benefits of interventions with supplements.

In almost all these reports, the investigators are finding deficiencies in acute clinical problems. They are alarmed and startled.

Here’s what the University of Wuerzburg had to say: “In conclusion, we found an alarmingly high rate of vitamin D deficiency in patients scheduled to undergo rTJA”. This is surgery needed to repair a failed joint replacement – hip, knee, shoulder. Sometimes this is due to infection, not just bone weakness – both impacted by D. This finding (see page 48), begs the question: if vitamin D levels were adequate, would patients require joint replacement in the first place, let alone repair? Vitamin D deficiency is frequently seen in patients scheduled for a replacement.

Then we have zinc deficiency and the potentially fatal hospital-acquired lung infection “caused by” Acinetobacter bacteria. Researchers at Vanderbilt University point out that nearly 20% of the world’s population is at risk for zinc deficiency, which can impair immune function and is a major risk factor for pneumonia – and that elderly and critically ill patients are particularly at risk. Trying to correct this when things have gone critical is fraught with problems, not least of which is causing a copper deficiency. But how are they “allowed” to get zinc deficient in the first place?

Because their primary care physicians are not trained in nutrition and their patients are decades into lack of nutrients.
That story is matched by University of Copenhagen work using massive doses of nicotinamide riboside, a form of vitamin B3, to reduce lung inflammation in COPD patients. Research had ALREADY shown an association between low niacin levels and risk of COPD. People with highest niacin intake have the lowest odds of developing COPD (page 44).

We’ve had “alarming” findings, now Prof Samantha Kleinberg describes as “startling” her team’s discovery that 90% of pregnant women are missing key nutrients – even folate, one nutrient that is always highlighted in pre-natal chats. This Journal of Nutrition study reports that iron, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium, vitamin C and vitamin A are all in short supply (page 41).

And if you thought pre-natal multi supplements were the answer, there’s bad news there as well. A US study checked 47 different prenatal vitamins (32 non-prescription and 15 prescription products) bought from online and local stores and found that fewer than 50% had adequate choline and iodine, while others contain harmful levels of toxic metals (page 9).

From Roger Williams (biochemical individuality) to Bruce Ames (Triage Theory), William Kelley (metabolic typing), Derrick Lonsdale (B3 deficiency) and more, it has been

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