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Donald A. Frambach, MD; Rick E. Bendel
University of Southern California School of Medicine Los Angeles

JAMA. 1991;265(7):869.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

We read with interest the recent article entitled "Excessive Zinc Ingestion: A Reversible Cause of Sideroblastic Anemia and Bone Marrow Depression."¹ We would like to call attention to another recently published case report of a young man who developed profound anemia with a hematocrit of 0.10 due to excessive zinc ingestion.² It has been reported that anemias (with copper deficiencies) have been induced with as little as 150 mg of zinc supplementation per day.³

Large numbers of elderly patients may be at risk for developing severe anemia from excessive zinc ingestion. A recent study suggested that 100 mg of zinc supplementation per day may retard progression of age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of new blindness among elderly Americans).⁴ This study was widely reported on by the lay press, and many elderly Americans are now taking zinc supplements. In addition, zinc supplements have . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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