Zinc, copper, selenium and manganese blood levels in preterm infants.

Objective: To measure the zinc, copper, selenium and manganese blood levels in a cohort of 68 preterm infants, and to establish any associations with growth and/or dietary intake.

Design: Blood samples were collected at an infant's expected date of delivery (term) and 6 months later. Serum zinc, plasma copper and whole blood manganese were analysed by atomic absorption spectrometry, plasma and red cell selenium were determined by mass spectrometry.

Dependence of blood indices of selenium and mercury on estimated fish intake in a national survey of British adults.

Objective: Contributions of fish and other foods to variance of selenium and mercury status were studied in British adults.

Setting And Design: Plasma and red-cell selenium and whole-blood mercury concentrations were measured during the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of Adults aged 19-64 years in mainland Britain, 2000-2001 (n = 1216). Food intake was weighed for seven consecutive days, and foods were combined in groups for data analysis.

Blood indices of selenium and mercury, and their correlations with fish intake, in young people living in Britain.

Relationships between Se and Hg in erythrocytes, and between these indices and intakes of fish and other foods, were studied as an adjunct to the British National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) of young people aged 4-18 years. Hg was measured in 965 packed erythrocyte samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Fe measurements permitted the calculation of whole-blood Hg.

A problem with her lead weight.

An autistic patient living in a residential home presented with symptoms of weight loss and abdominal pain. On investigation, she was found to have lead poisoning from an unusual source. Her treatment proved difficult due to failure to cooperate, and a 'best-case' protocol was devised.

Prevalence of maternal dietary iodine insufficiency in the north east of England: implications for the fetus.

Background: Maternal subclinical hypothyroidism is a cause of poor neurodevelopment outcome in the offspring. Although iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism world wide, there are no screening programmes for it in the United Kingdom where the population is assumed to be iodine replete.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of reduced iodine intake by measuring urinary iodide concentrations in pregnant and non-pregnant women from the north east of England.