Zinc for Sickle Cell Anemia!!!

"Zinc helps those suffering from sickle-cell anemia, acne and rheumatoid arthritis, notes the NYU Langone Medical Center."

 Learning about zinc for me was kind of accidental, as I was looking for a cure to the acne that has plagued me for the past 11 years. It's shown improvement with changes in my diet, and I noticed that Vitamin A was not only helping my eyes, but seemed to be helping my skin as well. So, naturally, I did some research. And found out about the benefits of adding zinc to my diet. (Learn about acne help here, I know there's more out there who can benefit from this!) Naturally, my curiosity was piqued when I learned what zinc could potentially do for my acne, so I looked further into it. As I was doing my research on zinc and reading different websites (because one is never enough, I always check multiple sources to see if they each confirm what the other says. That's how you know when it's more likely to be accurate!), I found one website (the first on the list) that says:

"Taking zinc supplements under medical supervision has a role in fighting disease. Zinc helps those suffering from sickle-cell anemia, acne and rheumatoid arthritis, notes the NYU Langone Medical Center."
 Source: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/zinc-can-humans-8590.html

Another website said:

"We administered zinc sulfate, 660 mg per day, orally, to seven men and two women with sickle cell anemia. Two 17-year-old males gained 5 cm and 7 cm in height during 49 and 42 weeks of zinc therapy, respectively. All but one patient gained weight (0.5 kg to 4.1 kg). Five of the males showed increased growth of pubic, axillary, facial, and body hair, and in one a leg ulcer healed in six weeks on zinc and in two others some benefit of zinc therapy on healing of ulcers was noted."
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294

After reading that, I immediately emailed my cousin, who has suffered from leg ulcers for several years. He told me that he'd discovered zinc around November of last year and that it has worked wonders for him.

According to the same website from the link above, patients who are zinc deficient show similar characteristics to patients who have sickle cell disease:

"Clinical similarities between patients with sickle cell anemia and zinc-deficient subjects suggested a secondary zinc deficiency in sickle cell anemia."
Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294 

Yet another website states:

"Various studies have shown that zinc deficiency may be common in SCA patients. This has been attributed to chronic haemolysis that occurs in these patients, increased demand and utilization, along with the secondary loss of zinc in the urine [1, 7, 8]. Furthermore, supplementation of zinc in sickle cell anaemia has been reported to improve wound healing, decrease incidence of infection, improve the age of attaining secondary sexual characteristics, reverse dark adaptation of the eyes, and accelerate growth [8–12]."
Source:  http://www.hindawi.com/journals/anemia/2011/698586/

This website talks about how zinc helps children with Sickle Cell grow & it also helps with fighting infection:

"Many people with the disease also suffer from zinc deficiency, which can cause slow growth in children and make adults more susceptible to infection.

In the study, researchers looked at the long-term effects of zinc supplementation among 38 children aged 4-10 years with sickle cell disease. Six of the children had low zinc levels in their blood at the beginning of the study. The results were published this week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

They found that children who received 10 mg per day of the zinc supplements grew significantly taller than those that did not receive the supplements. For example, among 24 children whose initial height and weight were considered low, those who took zinc grew 1.3 cm -- about half an inch -- more than the others.

The zinc supplements also helped the children with sickle cell disease maintain a normal height and weight for their age. The children that did not take the zinc had the slow growth that is typical for youths with this disease."
Source: http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20020124/zinc-helps-sickle-cell-kids-grow

I just started taking zinc on Friday, May 15th (my sister happened to have a bottle on hand, purchased from our favorite website http://swansonvitamins.com/), and I'm hoping to see the benefits of it too. I couldn't wait to share the news, so here I am, posting about it. Some of the links, especially the last two, get into some pretty technical medical language, but please, read and share with anyone you know who has sickle cell. You never know who you might help or how much you might be helping them!

Read Here About the Benefits of Zinc for Sickle Cell Anemia

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/zinc-can-humans-8590.html

http://www.sharecare.com/health/minerals-nutrition-diet/do-zinc-supplements-sickle-cell

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263176.php

http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20020124/zinc-helps-sickle-cell-kids-grow

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/anemia/2011/698586/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1116294

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/75/2/181.full

And for those who need some help with fighting acne:

http://www.xojane.com/beauty/vitamins-make-your-skin-less-fugly

Benefits of Borage Oil

http://www.taoofherbs.com/products/5412/DEVANutrition/VeganBorageOil.htm