An Evaluation of Zinc Status in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

    April 1978 in “ Pediatric research ”
    Barbara S. Kirschner, Regina C. Casper, Robert A. Jacob, Harold H. Sandstead, John M. Davis, Samuel Spector
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    TLDR Patients with anorexia nervosa did not show a correlation between zinc levels and taste perception or the severity of their condition.
    In a study from 1978, zinc status was evaluated in 27 hospitalized patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), who had lost more than 25% of their body weight without other medical causes. The patients, aged 12 to 32, included 26 females and 1 male. Despite characteristics of zinc deficiency such as alopecia and delayed sexual maturation being common in AN, standardized taste discrimination tests showed no taste perversions, although 6 of 13 patients had reduced taste acuity. The study found no correlation between plasma and hair zinc levels and taste perception, serum carotene, vitamin A, or retinol-binding protein levels. Additionally, zinc levels did not correlate with the amount of weight loss or the duration of symptoms, including amenorrhea.
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