Copper toxicity is ignored and undiagnosed by physicians. They either do not test it or the blood tests they prescribe do not reveal copper toxicity levels. The most reliable test for copper toxicity is a hair or urine analysis by a reputable lab. Blood tests are not reliable for heavy metal testing.

Do you have or know anyone who suffers from headaches, fatigue, insomnia, depression, skin rashes, spaciness, learning disorders or premenstrual syndrome? These can be symptoms of a copper imbalance.

High copper that is not at a toxic level can create these positive traits; a warm, caring, sensitive, emotional nature, often with artistic orientation and a child-like quality. Often high-copper people are young-looking. Many traditional feminine traits are associated with copper such as softness, gentleness and intuitiveness.

Toxic levels begin to change the personality with; spaciness, racing thoughts, living in a dream world, naivete, childishness, excessive emotions, sentimentality, a tendency to depression, fearfulness, hidden anger and resentments, phobias, psychosis and violence. These traits are similar to the traits of a manic depressive in their high state. High copper toxicity creates an artists, inventors and "live on the edge" personality.  Very high copper can cause a psychotic break from reality, a type of schizophrenia.

An 18-year old schizophrenic patient had a hair copper level of 40 mg% (normal is 2.5 mg%). She hallucinated and attempted suicide twice while in the Scottsdale Camelback Mental Hospital. When her copper decreased to normal through a diet and supplement program, her symptoms disappeared and she has remained well. Source (1)

Copper problems are often the result of too little zinc in the body. Our soils are depleted of zinc and a vegetarian diet lacks needed zinc. Meat is the best food source for zinc. source

See our Selenium, Zinc and Metallothionein pages for information stating zinc may not be deficient in our bodies but that a deficiency of Selenium prevents our body from assimilating zinc as well as calcium.

A vegitiarian diet increases copper levels and a meat diet lowers copper levels Source

• Autism Source
• Adrenal burnout, characterized by chronic fatigue and other symptoms, is often related to copper imbalance.
• Compulsive behavior may be related to copper and the adrenals.
• When copper is out of balance, our bodies cannot control yeast overgrowth. This often lead to chronic candida albicans infections that are resistant to treatment.
• Copper imbalance impairs the immune system. Homosexuality may be related to copper levels. This is because secondary sex characteristics are greatly influenced by hormones which are in turn influenced by copper and zinc levels.
• headaches
• fatigue - chronic fatigue
• insomnia
• depression - manic symptoms
• irrational behaviors or actions; ie irrational responses to situations or relationships. Often not the normal response by that individual except when copper is at a toxic level they respond differently.
• skin rashes
• spaciness
• learning disorders
• premenstrual syndrome
• Crave caffeine, coffee and stimulants
• spaciness
• racing thoughts
• living in a dream world
• naivety
• childishness
• excessive emotions
• sentimentality
• a tendency to depression
• fearfulness
• hidden anger and resentments
• phobias
• psychosis and violence
• compulsive behaviors
• immune system disorders
• encephalitis (brain swelling) (1)

• Deficiencies of manganese, iron, B-vitamins and vitamin C can cause copper to accumulate.
• Adrenal hormones cause the liver to produce ceruloplasmin, the main copper binding protein in the body. Therefore, a sluggish liver or weak adrenal glands may cause copper to build up in the tissues.
• excessive supplementation
• the increasingly common problem of low levels of zinc in the diet
• Copper water pipes, Contaminated food and drinking water due to contact with metallic copper
• External exposures such as a copper IUD or accidental agricultural over spray
• elevated levels of estrogens.
• Nuts (I used to get bad flue problems every January until I discovered the Christmas nuts I ate caused copper problems. By lowering or restricting nuts I have eliminated these symptoms.)
• Caffeine (I have often craved caffeine and did not know why, it seemed to make me feel better for a while}
• Fish
• Meats
• Apples

Some possible ways to lower or control Copper toxicity:

• Zinc with Manganise (cheleates ie. attaches to the copper molecules and removes them from the body)
• Caffeine, coffee, stimulants
• Cadmium
• Higher meat and lower vegetarian diet

New research about Metallothionein and its relationship to copper and zinc percentages in the body:
"Metallothionein (MT) is a cysteine-rich, metal-binding protein that can be induced by a variety of agents." (4)

Interest in metallothionein (MT) has attracted considerable interest in the last two years because of data collected by William Walsh, Ph.D. of the Pfeiffer Institute, which indicates the copper to zinc ratio is abnormally high in individuals with autism. (3)

Experiments show that the immune system is affected by Metallothionein "In the experiments reported here, we show that immune cells migrate chemotactically in the presence of a gradient of MT" (4)

Sources
(1) Copper Toxicity Syndrome  This is the most informative site I have found about copper and the body
(2) Diagnosis Me.com
(3) Great Planes Laboratory
(4) BMC Immunology