Is it useful to do trace element examination for children?

When babies are six months old and receive pediatric care in the hospital, most doctors will request a trace element test. During the test, it is found that the body lacks trace elements. However, some children usually have many symptoms, but no deficiency is found during the test. Many parents think that there is something wrong with the test, and also think that the child is too young and such a test is inaccurate. So, is it useful for children to do trace element tests? It is useful to do this test.

Experts point out that the accuracy of trace element detection is not high because it is affected by the environment and operating conditions. Taking zinc measurement as an example, hair will be affected by many factors such as hair cleanliness, hair quality, individual growth and development level, and environmental pollution, so it cannot reflect the nutritional status of zinc well. Testing zinc levels in the finger blood is also not accurate because the amount of zinc in the blood is extremely low and most of it is stored in red blood cells. When blood is drawn by staff, tissue fluid will be mixed in, making the test result of the originally extremely low blood zinc content even lower.

"In trace element testing, except for blood lead, other items are of no value at all." A doctor in a hospital's laboratory department admitted that checking blood calcium is the most deceptive project in history. Only 1% of the human body's calcium is in the blood. The body's self-regulation will keep the blood calcium level relatively constant. Even if the body is calcium deficient, it will hardly be reflected in the blood. Therefore, it is ridiculous to determine whether there is calcium deficiency by checking blood calcium.

The serum levels of trace elements do not represent the functional status of trace elements in the body, nor can they be used as a basis for diagnosing electrolyte disorders, trace element deficiencies or high blood lead levels. "Since the physiological effect sites of elements such as calcium, zinc, and iron are not in the blood, there is no point in testing trace elements. In particular, there is no scientific reason to test hair. Peripheral blood testing cannot guarantee that the blood will not be diluted by tissue fluid when it is drawn, so even blood levels cannot be used as a representative.

Experts say that the zinc content in the general diet will not cause poisoning, but if it is supplemented through zinc supplements, zinc poisoning may occur. Acute zinc poisoning can cause convulsions, coma, dehydration and shock, and even death. Chronic zinc poisoning is manifested by loss of appetite, mental depression, decreased serum iron and serum copper, and persistent anemia.

"At present, many people blindly supplement trace elements, which is actually of no benefit. Indiscriminate supplementation of trace elements will lead to an imbalance in the body's trace element metabolism, and even the more you supplement, the more deficient you will be, resulting in a decline in immunity.

To determine whether a patient is deficient in trace elements, it is mainly to see whether there are some symptoms of low immunity, such as easy illness, long course of illness, easy relapse, loss of appetite and poor sleep. For example, zinc deficiency can cause white spots on the nails, susceptibility to colds, tinnitus, and hyperactivity. Professional doctors should make a preliminary judgment based on individual circumstances, such as whether the patient usually has picky eating habits, anorexia, and special symptoms, and perform some special tests if necessary.

Is it useful to do trace element tests on children? This article provides a detailed answer to this question. Simply doing trace element tests cannot clearly diagnose diseases. It is only a piece of data for physical examination and must be combined with physical symptoms and other aspects of judgment. In order to prevent children from lacking nutrients, it is recommended to make reasonable combinations of foods and for children not to be picky eaters.