Legacy AI grade · Sources dated 2026-07-26. Not expert reviewed. Coverage is limited to the listed sources. About the new summary workflow
Copper for Micronutrient Deficiency
For people with documented copper deficiency, copper repletion reliably reverses the blood-related abnormalities (anemia and low neutrophils), making it standard clinical care; the nerve damage it can cause is often only partly reversible, and healthy adults eating a balanced diet do not need to supplement.
Why this grade7-layer evidence engine
This earns a moderate grade because the evidence is consistent but built almost entirely on retrospective case series and a case-report systematic review rather than randomized trials. A case report (PMID 33448718) and the broader case-series literature describe severe anemia and near-universal neutropenia resolving within weeks of copper repletion, while a national review of 16 patients (PMID 23034053) reported cytopenia resolution in 93%. Smaller series (PMID 18284630, PMID 15834043) confirm the same prompt hematologic recovery.
The grade is held back from the top tier by a clear limitation: the neurologic damage (myeloneuropathy) responds poorly. In the same 16-patient review only 25% improved neurologically and 33% worsened, and case series conclude the myelopathy may be irreversible, making early diagnosis the decisive factor. For inherited Menkes disease, copper-histidine helps only if started within roughly four weeks of birth (PMID 8229500); a delayed-treatment cohort saw 58% die before age five (PMID 24919650).
Regulators (FDA, EFSA, WHO) treat copper purely as an essential nutrient with no disease-treatment claims, and the UK NHS notes a varied diet supplies all the copper most people need. The clinical case is narrow and well-supported: post-bariatric reviews show routine multivitamin-mineral supplements keep copper deficiency to low single-digit rates (about 0-5%) (PMID 27034062, PMID 25271186, PMID 41353140). The strongest practical message is to watch for high-dose zinc, an often-overlooked, preventable cause of copper deficiency.
Scoring transparency
All scores computed by a 7-layer evidence engine — fully auditable▸View the full decision path (audit trail)
- compute_raw_score — 加權公式: L2×0.30 + L3×0.25 + L5×0.25 + L11×0.10 + L1×0.10 = 0.727
- tier_from_score — 依分數區間映射至 tier letter
- apply_hec_rules — 高品質 SR/MA 顯示 positive (1 篇 > 0 negative)
- tier_strict_requirement_check — Tier 條件達標，未降階
- detect_disputes — 偵測到 0 個 hard + 0 個 soft dispute
- decide_status — 依 tier + dispute 結果決定 status