Amos Institute Publishes Article About Zinc and COVID-19

The medical and scientific communities have come a long way in their knowledge of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. At the Amos Institute, our team is honored to have contributed to this body of knowledge and literature in a small way. We are so pleased to share our manuscript which was published this month in the peer-reviewed journal, Annals of Medicine. In our paper entitled Association Between COVID-19 and Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors with the Spotlight on Zinc, we discuss the importance of zinc as an antiviral mineral during the COVID-19 pandemic, a concept that up until this point has not been widely discussed in the scientific literature. 

While zinc deficiency remains rare in North America, many people are still at high risk of zinc insufficiency due to the chronic conditions and comorbidities rampant among our population, including diabetes and hypertension. Specifically, in the population suffering from diabetes and hypertension, ACE inhibitors and ARBs are the most common medications used which affect zinc levels in the body. Chronic use of these commonly prescribed medications can result in zinc deficiency. As zinc functions as an antiviral, inhibiting viral replication among other mechanisms, the population taking these medications may be more susceptible to increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. In other words, certain commonly prescribed medications may lower zinc levels, increasing the risk of contracting and having severe illness from COVID-19. 

As we learn to live with COVID-19, supplemental zinc may need to be considered by those with low zinc levels or those taking medications that can result in insufficient zinc levels. Read the full paper for more details and if you have questions about whether or not you have optimal zinc levels and zinc intake, contact the Amos Institute to set up an appointment with a dietitian today. 

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Reference:

Bashar Khiatah, Amylee Amos & Deborah Carlson (2021) Association between COVID-19 and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors with the spotlight on zinc: an opinion, Annals of Medicine, 53:1, 1673-1675, DOI: 10.1080/07853890.2021.1981545