Menkes Disease

Copper injections are used to treat Menkes’ disease. The success of this treatment often depends on the severity of the disease.

Some studies have shown favorable effects of injectable copper on brain and nerve development in people with Menkes’ disease when the degree of genetic defect was mild and treatment was begun early.⁹ However, copper therapy does not benefit Menkes’ patients if the genetic defects are severe, or if therapy is begun after the physical defects manifest.¹⁰ Some researchers have observed that damaging levels of copper can build up in the tissues of some copper-treated people with Menkes’ disease.¹¹ For example, in one study a boy developed low blood pressure in response to changing body position (called orthostatic hypotension), an enlarged spleen, and ballooning of an artery in his abdomen. However, whether these anomalies resulted from therapy or from the Menkes’ disease itself remains unclear. As a result, copper therapy is still considered experimental¹² and potentially dangerous. People with Menkes’ disease should consult a healthcare professional before supplementing with copper.

In 1989, one researcher suggested that Menkes’ disease is caused by a defect in zinc metabolism that reduces copper availability.¹³ The possibility of this zinc-copper interaction in Menkes’ disease has since been investigated in preliminary test tube research.^14,15,16,17 These studies have shown that supplementation with zinc does not alter the way cells from people with Menkes’ disease use copper. Therefore, zinc supplementation is unlikely to be beneficial in Menkes’ disease.