Implications of Subclinical Nutrient Deficiencies
Clinical assessment of nutritional status has long been exclusively focused on detection of absolute nutrient deficiencies by relying on clinical evidence of signs and symptoms of classic deficiency states. Yet relative nutrient deficiencies due to disease are equally important, as is the detection of nutrient imbalances before clinical evidence of deficiency is present. At the point where altered cell function has evolved into clinical manifestations of nutrient deficiency, cellular activity will have been compromised for some time and the compensatory responses that might have allowed a temporary adjustment to the deficiency would no longer be effective. Detection of subclinical changes in cell processes early in the course of a nutrient deficiency when cell damage is minor and more readily reversible can have a considerable impact on prevention and treatment of disease. If subclinical deficiency is not corrected, then prolonged marginalization of cellular activity may not only increase vulnerability to disease, but also exacerbate progression of existing disease and interfere with effectiveness of treatment, since all drugs require some level of metabolic support to achieve their desired therapeutic effects.
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