trace elements, do you still check for children

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-02-18

Trace elements are generally found in bodies in amounts less than 0 percent of body weight01% minerals. The trace elements in the human body mainly include iron, zinc, iodine, zinc, selenium, copper, and magnesium. Trace element testing used to be a popular item in children's physical examination, parents mainly look at the child's physical growth is not ideal, usually picky eater or poor appetite, check to see if there is a deficiency, targeted supplements. The most common detection methods of trace elements are hair test, peripheral blood test and venous blood test, of course, hair test is not accurate, generally peripheral blood and venous blood test. The examination items include calcium, iron, zinc, lead, copper, magnesium, etc., although calcium is not a trace element, most trace element tests include calcium, and some also check chromium, cadmium, etc.

There is no national unified standard for the normal value of trace element detection, and the examination results of different hospital laboratories may be very different due to different testing instruments and different detection methods; For each trace element, the inspection method is often different, and it is really difficult to say how valuable these test results are when so many kinds are detected at once.

1.Calcium. Calcium is included in the general electrolyte test, which may be more accurate than the trace element test. Ionized calcium or serum total calcium generally does not reflect the real calcium nutritional status of the body, and the trace element test is not of much significance. If the electrolyte test is high or low calcium, it needs to be treated accordingly.

2.Iron. Serum iron and serum ferritin response are usually checked for iron nutrition in the body; If the trace element is tested for iron, it is recommended to check the blood routine at the same time, if the iron is low and there is iron deficiency anemia at the same time, the reference value is relatively large, and it can be used as the basis for iron supplementation.

3.Zinc. The examination methods include colorimetric method and atomic absorption method, and generally check for zinc in serum or plasma. There are many influencing factors, such as inflammatory reaction, examination time, specimen processing, etc., which may affect the examination results. For example, when blood clots, zinc can be released from platelets, making serum zinc 5% to 15% higher than plasma zinc, so plasma zinc measurement is more reliable than serum zinc. Red blood cells contain 8 times more zinc than plasma, so hemolyzed specimens or whole blood may not be suitable for zinc testing. A postprandial response test to serum zinc concentration may be more accurate to fasting serum zinc concentrations.

degrees as a basal level, then a standard diet is given, and two hours later.

Check the serum concentration, if it is greater than 15%, it can indicate zinc deficiency.

4.Iodine. Iodine nutritional status is generally evaluated by checking thyroid function and urine iodine, rather than trace element testing for iodine in serum or blood.

5.Lead. Blood lead detection methods include atomic absorption spectrometry, dithionehydrazone complexation colorimetry, anodic dissolution voltammetry, etc., and there are strict blood collection procedures for general blood lead examination, otherwise it is easy to cause contamination and affect the test results. If the blood lead test result is abnormal, a repeat test is usually required, and the results are consistent between the two tests.

6.Copper. It is usually done by checking the serum ceruloplasmin response to copper metabolism in the body. There are many factors influencing serum copper, and there are very few children with copper deficiency.

As for chromium or cadmium, an overdose is generally more harmful to children, and children are rarely exposed to these, and the possibility of overdose is relatively small. If there is an abnormality in the child's trace element test, it is estimated that the child's doctor will not be able to say why, and there is no point in naturally checking this.

Related Pages