Zinc Pills Uses & Effectiveness?

Effective for

• Zinc deficiency. Zinc deficiency might occur in people with severe diarrhea, conditions that make it hard for the bowel to absorb food, liver cirrhosis and alcoholism, after major surgery, and during long-term use of tube feeding in the hospital. Moreover Taking zinc by mouth or giving zinc intravenously (by IV) helps to restore zinc levels in people who are zinc deficient. However, taking zinc supplements regularly is not recommended.

Zinc Pills Likely Effective for

• Diarrhea. Taking zinc by mouth reduces the duration and severity of diarrhea in children who are undernourished or zinc deficient. In the same vein Severe zinc deficiency in children is common in developing countries. Also giving zinc to undernourished women during pregnancy and for one month after delivery reduces the incidence of diarrhea in infants during the first year of life.
• An inherited disorder that causes copper to build up in many organs (Wilson disease). Taking zinc by mouth improves symptoms of an inherited disorder called Wilson disease. In addition People with Wilson disease have too much copper in their bodies. Zinc blocks how much copper is absorbed and increases how much copper the body releases.

 Zinc Pills Possibly Effective for

• Acne.
• A disorder of zinc deficiency (acrodermatitis enteropathica). Taking zinc by mouth seems to help improve symptoms of acrodermatitis enteropathica.
• An eye disease that leads to vision loss in older adults (age-related macular degeneration or AMD). Mostly People who consume more zinc as part of their diet seem to have a lower risk of developing age-related vision loss.
• An eating disorder (anorexia nervosa). Taking zinc supplements by mouth might help increase weight gain and improve depression symptoms in teens and adults with anorexia.
• Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is evidence that children with ADHD might have lower blood levels of zinc than children without ADHD.
• Burns. Giving zinc intravenously (by IV) together with other minerals seems to improve wound healing in people with burns.
• Non-cancerous growths in the large intestine and rectum (colorectal adenoma). In addition research suggests that taking a supplement containing selenium, zinc, vitamin A 2, vitamin C, and vitamin E by mouth daily for 5 years reduces the risk of recurrent large-bowel tumors by about 40%.
• Common cold. Although some conflicting results exist, most research shows that taking lozenges containing zinc gluconate or zinc acetate by mouth helps reduce the duration of a cold in adults.
• Depression. Early research suggests that zinc levels are lower in people with depression. Ingesting more zinc is associated with less risk of depression.

Possibly Ineffective for

• Patchy hair loss (alopecia areata). Although there is early evidence that suggests taking zinc together with biotin might be helpful for hair loss, most studies suggest that zinc is not effective for this condition.
• Long-term swelling (inflammation) in the digestive tract (inflammatory bowel disease or IBD). Taking zinc by mouth does not seem to help treat IBD.
• Flu (influenza). Taking zinc supplements by mouth is unlikely to improve immune function against the flu virus in people who are not at risk for zinc deficiency.
• Ear infection (otitis media). Moreover taking zinc does not appear to prevent ear infections in children.
• A pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and protein in the urine (pre-eclampsia). Taking zinc does not seem to reduce the risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy.
• Low iron levels in women who are pregnant. Taking zinc by mouth does not seem to help improve iron levels in women taking iron and folic acid supplements.
• Prostate cancer. Taking zinc does not seem to be linked to the risk of getting prostate cancer.
• Scaly, itchy skin (psoriasis). Taking zinc by mouth does not seem to help treat psoriasis.
• Joint swelling (inflammation) in people with psoriasis. Taking zinc by mouth, alone or together with painkillers, has no effect on the progression of psoriatic arthritis.
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Taking zinc by mouth does not seem to help treat rheumatoid arthritis.
• A skin condition that causes redness on the face (rosacea). Research suggests that taking zinc by mouth daily for 90 days does not improve quality of life or symptoms associated with rosacea.

Likely InEffective for

• Malaria. Taking zinc by mouth does not seem to help prevent or treat malaria in undernourished children in developing countries.

Insufficient Evidence for

• Liver disease in people who drink alcohol. Taking zinc sulfate by mouth might improve liver function in people with alcohol-related liver disease.
• Alzheimer disease. Some early research shows that zinc supplements might slow the worsening of symptoms in people with Alzheimer disease.
• Arsenic poisoning. Early research suggests that taking zinc together with spirulina can reduce symptoms and arsenic levels in the urine and hair of people with long-term arsenic poisoning.
• Asthma. Similarly Zinc intake does not appear to be linked to the risk for developing asthma in children.
• A blood disorder that reduces levels of protein in the blood called hemoglobin (beta-thalassemia). Early research suggests that taking zinc sulfate while undergoing blood transfusions increases growth in children with beta-thalassemia compared to blood transfusions alone.
• A type of inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn disease).
• A type of inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis).
• Skin wrinkles from sun damage.
• Other conditions.

Normally, zinc deficiency is due to insufficient dietary intake. However, it may also be due to malabsorption and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, malignancy (cancer), liver disease, and sickle cell disease.

Zinc deficiency signs include:

• Firstly it can lead to loss of appetite
• Secondly it may lead to anemia
• Generally slow wound healing has been observed
• skin conditions such as acne or eczema
• abnormal taste and smell
• Additionally it leads to depressed growth
• altered cognition
• In addition depression may occur (more research needed)
• diarrhea
• And finally hair loss

Finally Zinc deficiency during pregnancy may increase the chances of a difficult or prolonged birth.