Zinc and copper nutriture of women taking oral contraceptive agents
1981
Vir, Sheila C. | Love, A.H.G.
Increased serum copper levels were observed in a cross-sectional study of 33 women, 18-23 years of age, who had been taking oral contraceptives for at least 3 months, as compared with 24 control women who had never used the contraceptives. A follow-up study examined zinc and copper status in 12 women, 3 and 6 months after they began taking oral contraceptives. Oral contraceptives had no significant effect on serum zinc, hair zinc or hair copper. No correlation between duration of oral contraceptive administration and zinc or copper concentrations in either serum or hair was observed. The follow-up study indicated that although a rise in serum copper was significant after 3 months of using oral contraceptives, longer use was not associated with significantly elevated serum copper levels. The physiological implications of an altered serum copper concentration are unclear. (nm)
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