Dietary copper helpful to ease heart disease

    Researchers at the University of Louisville Medical Center and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center gave copper supplements to mice with over-worked hearts. And their findings showed that copper supplements could ease the stress and prevented heart enlargement.

    The study was published online in the latest Journal of Experimental Medicine.

    The study found that feeding mice copper relieved heart disease and restored proper heart function, even when the animals' hearts were continually stressed.

    Stressed mice that were not given copper supplements suffered heart failure, said the study.

    The copper-rich diet increased the production of a protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels, although exactly how this protein might aid heart recovery is not yet clear, according to the study.

    Insufficient copper intake is associated with increases in cholesterol levels, clot formation, and heart disease, according to the study.

    The human equivalent of the beneficial dose of copper used in this study is about 3.0 mg/day. The current recommended daily intake for humans, however, is only 0.9 mg/day.

    Increasing copper intake, especially in those pre-disposed to heart disease, might thus be an easy way to reduce the mortality rate associated with this condition, said the study.

2007-03-07