What's minerals are likely to be deficient with somebody who has arthritis?

August 12, 2010 9:55 AM

A friend of mine has premature arthritis (she's 40 years old). She can't get enough iron, despite taking supplements, and we recently worked out that she's short of magnesium too. Loss of minerals is a common problem with arthritis but what other minerals is she likely to be missing, and what's the best way of replacing them?
posted by humblepigeon to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

It's not clear from your question if she is under medical supervision. If not, a doctor is really the best person to talk to about this. Supplements are sometimes less easily absorbed than food sources, but it seems likely that there are underlying problems that will keep her from absorbing these vitamins no matter what their source.

My mom (she's 50), is having a hip replaced in a few months. Her osteoarthritis (through loss of joint fluid and cartilage) was likely from a non-serious injury in childhood or one leg being slightly longer than the other. When cartilage is gone, it's gone. Nutrition isn't going to help anything.
posted by fontophilic at 10:06 AM on August 12, 2010

Response by poster: Yes, of course she's seeing a doctor, and has been for years. They're investigating the iron problem but these things take time, and I was asking here for any advice or interesting nuggets of info from anybody who knows about this.

A lot of replies here on MeFi to medical problems seem to be "ask a doctor" nowadays, which is both annoying and obvious. I wonder if we've not forgotten what the point of AskMeFi actually is -- to share information in any way that can help.
posted by humblepigeon at 10:28 AM on August 12, 2010

15 years medical practice speaking here: Iron is poorly absorbed so you have to take a lot of it. She should be taking prescription-strength iron tablets, preferably three a day. Taking vitamin C at the same time helps absorption. Iron tends to constipate, so she should be sure to drink a big glass of water with it, maintain a high fiber diet, and if necessary take a stool softener (docusate) immediately after each meal.

I wouldn't attribute iron deficiency to arthritis without a thorough search for other causes.
posted by neuron at 10:38 AM on August 12, 2010

If she has RA (rheumatoid arthritis) anemia is a quite common complication. This is something that can only be addressed by a professional who has a complete picture of her medical condition, current treatment(s) lab results etc. Has this been done. If she has "plain" arthritis the issue still needs professional guidance--it is essential to determine if the anemia is related to the arthritis or a completely separate phenomenon. It could be as simple as blood loss due to NASIDS or a separate blood disorder that requires specific intervention. One can be anemic for a variety of reasons--blood loss, irregular/deformed red blood cells, short lived red blood cells, disease of tissue that form red blood cells etc. This is not a problem for a health store or nutritional consultation.
posted by rmhsinc at 10:40 AM on August 12, 2010

BTW--the comment about annoying and obvious would be more appropriate if you provided the information that she had seen a physician, what kind of physician, what has been ruled out, what kind of arthritis and any other medication/supplements she is taking. I really think any one giving (or taking) specific hints or nuggets on this sketchy information is walking a fine line of irresponsibility. Your question is quite technical.
posted by rmhsinc at 10:47 AM on August 12, 2010 [2 favorites]

Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) are an excellent source of both magnesium and iron. You can find unsalted versions of them at plenty of online nut retailers.
posted by Brent Parker at 10:53 AM on August 12, 2010

I've found that the iron supplements Proferrin and/or Bifera are far better than any prescription iron supplement. The absorption rate is greater, they do not have any special timing needs (you can take them with a meal, you don't need vitamin C, you don't have to avoid dairy, etc), and they do not upset the stomach or cause any constipation.
posted by elsietheeel at 11:15 AM on August 12, 2010

Cut out of her diet grains, legumes, sugars, dairy, and nightshades (potatoes, eggplants, peppers, etc). These foods are all known or strongly suspected to be involved with malabsorportion of minerals and nutrients.
posted by telegraph at 12:00 PM on August 12, 2010

Telegraph you are right on.

Plus you should read the heart scan blog but especially this latest post.
posted by cda at 12:30 PM on August 12, 2010

How's her folate (folic acid) intake? Inadequate folate can sometimes be an underlying factor behind anemia. Inadequate intake of vitamin B12 could in turn affect folate absorption. So those two might be worth checking out. Folate absorption is vulnerable to all sorts of health conditions as well as interactions with various drugs, so deficiency isn't all that unheard of.

Anyway, all this is something she should definitely first discuss with her doctor or at least with a dietitian, as excessive folate supplementation can also lead to other, serious problems (namely masking vitamin B12 deficiency), so supplements should be taken with caution.

Leafy green vegetables, seeds, legumes, fortified grains, citrus fruits and liver are good natural sources of folate (although it's easily destroyed by heat and oxygen). Foods of animal origin as well as fortified cereals are significant sources of vitamin B12 (which in turn is easily destroyed by microwaving).
posted by sively at 12:35 PM on August 12, 2010

Her docs can find this out by ordering blood tests for various vitamin and mineral levels. Serious deficiencies are better handled by pros-- supplementing some things might cause you to miss others, or cause other symptoms. Without hard data, it's difficult to just try to figure it out blind.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 2:28 PM on August 12, 2010

Hey, no offense intended, and now that I see you're in the UK I probably would have assumed she had seen a Doc. I just imagined a scenario of some (probably American) people figuring they can take a trip to the vitamin section of Whole Foods instead of seeing a Doctor. The bit "we recently worked out" was what had me concerned. I read it as you and her, not you, her and her MD.
posted by fontophilic at 7:50 AM on August 13, 2010

Response by poster: Hi Fontopilkic, yes, we're in the UK. I also realised that the mostly US readers of Metafilter wouldn't realise that we have free access to medical care over here (although it can be slow, hence my mentioning that tests were ongoing).
posted by humblepigeon at 8:39 AM on August 13, 2010