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Part 1 - Can Tin Prevent Falling Asleep at the Wheel?

Fatigue has been a major limitation to my lifestyle ever since developing
intolerances to gluten and other foods.  Not only do I lack the will to do
anything but get through a day of work and perform only the most essential
chores, but, almost daily, I have had to fight off extreme drowsiness
during the last 10 minutes of my 40 minute drive to work to stay awake at
the wheel.  During the early darkness in winter, this drowsiness sometimes
occurs on the return drive home.  Once at my destination, drowsiness does
not occur and is not a problem.  I do not have insomnia or other known
sleep disorders, but I could use more hours of sleep during the work week.

I have determined that adrenal fatigue (insufficiency) is likely a major
factor contributing to my fatigue.  Supplements to deal with adrenal
fatigue, including pantothenic acid, adrenal cortex extract, and some amino
acids, have had little effect.  Only drinking salted water several times
daily to replenish lost sodium has taken some of the edge off of the
fatigue.  Sodium is over-excreted by the kidneys when fatigued adrenal
glands are unable to produce a sufficient amount of the hormone aldosterone
which regulates sodium retention.  Still, fatigue and drowsiness have
remained a problem for me, and I continue to search for solutions.

While searching the web for information about bioflavonoids, I came across
the website, Acu-Cell Cellular Nutrition, http://www.acu-cell.com/ , a site
maintained by Dr. Ronald Roth, an acupuncturist, practicing alternative
medicine for over 25 years.  Despite my scientific reservations against his
alternative medicine commentary and against Acu-Cell Analysis (which
professes to be able measure levels of trace elements and minerals in a
patient by measuring electric currents across specific nerve locations
along the patient's extremities) his site does provide much sound and
scientifically based information on trace elements and minerals as well as
useful insight gained from Dr. Roth's many years of nutritional practice.

Two articles about tin on Dr. Roth's site caught my attention:

"Health Benefits & Toxicity of the Element TIN, and its Effect on Adrenals,
Depression and Fatigue"
http://www.acu-cell.com/tin.html

"Tin & Iodine"
http://www.acu-cell.com/sni.html

I was especially intrigued by Dr. Roth's unpublished study of the effects
of tin supplementation with stannous oxide (tin (II) oxide) in patients
whom he evaluated as having low levels of tin:

"I had 285 individuals taking part in evaluating tin, some on a short-term
basis (about 3 weeks), and others on a long-term basis (1-2 + years),
resulting in some valuable feedback on various responses encountered,
including side effects, although the poor absorption of stannous oxide was
a limiting factor in being able to achieve optimal increases of cellular
tin in all subjects.  Of those who experienced changes after supplementing
tin, negative reactions, i.e. stomach / digestive upsets or skin reactions
were at par, or less compared to the best tolerated trace minerals such as
chromium, magnesium, or calcium.  Positive health effects were numerous and
included improvements with some forms of depression and fatigue, and a
general increase in energy, well-being and mood.  There were also benefits
with certain types of headaches, insomnia, asthma, or improvements with
digestion, skin, or various aches and pains."

The possibility that tin supplementation might improve fatigue and increase
energy levels definitely warranted my further investigation.

A number of minerals and trace elements are essential to our health.  Much
is known about our need for calcium, iron, zinc, copper and others.  For
elements such as boron, chromium, and nickel, though considered essential,
little is known about daily requirement and exactly how they function.  For
still other elements, such as tin and vanadium, essentiality has not yet
been proven.  Knowledge about tin, other than for its toxic effect on
humans in large doses, is almost non-existant.

For centuries mankind has been overdosed with tin from food and beverage
stored and served in tin, bronze (a copper and tin alloy), or tin-lined
containers.  Only in recent years have government health agencies in many
countries established limits on the amount of tin or tin compounds that can
be present in or added to foods.  Most tin-lined cans are now required to
be coated with a lacquer to prevent tin from being leached out by the
acidity of food or drink packed in the cans.  Foods are now also packed in
a variety of aluminum, plastic, biodegradeable, and glass containers,
displacing tin cans.  The result is, where once mankind routinely ingested
high levels of tin, recent generations could now be experiencing a
deficiency of tin.  Governments, in their exuberance to spare us from the
potential toxic effects of high levels of tin, have neglected to thoroughly
investigate whether we have an essential need for tin.

There have been a few studies in laboratory animals investigating tin as an
essential element, but almost nothing is known about the need for tin in
human health.  A study in rats concluded that tin deficiency may result in
slow growth, hearing loss, and alopecia (pattern-baldness).  In mice, rats
and dogs, tin has been found to be most concentrated in the thymus gland,
suggesting that tin may have a role in thymic function. (The thymus gland
is crucial to the development of the immune system.)  Tin-mesoporphyrin has
been used to prevent jaundice in preterm newborn human infants. [Refs 1-4]
Though tin in very high doses can be lethal in humans (as can zinc and
other essential trace elements), tin is not an especially harmful toxin.
High doses can cause nausea, gastric discomfort, and other symptoms.  But
tin is normally eliminated quickly from the human body and rarely produces
any long lasting effects.  Inorganic compounds of tin are not known to be
carcinogenic.  See:

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs55.html

To investigate whether tin supplementation could improve my fatigue I was
on my own.  A normal diet provides on the order of 1-3 mg tin daily.
Acidic food consumed from tin-lined cans may significantly increase the
amount of tin ingested.  Being both gluten intolerant and having low
stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) and consuming very little canned food makes
it highly likely that I absorb very little tin, thus, very likely making me
tin deficient.  Problem number 1 - what to use for a tin supplement?

There are absolutely no tin supplements available on the market.  A company
called WaterOz until recently has been producing a tin ionic water product,
but this product has been discontinued.  Tin is available in very small
amounts, 10 mcg as stannous chloride, in some multimineral supplements.
And a small amount of tin may be ingested from toothpastes and mouthwashes
as stannous fluoride.  Dr. Roth gave stannous oxide to his patients in his
tin study.  Stannous oxide is a black powder insoluable in water, but
soluable in hydrochloric acid (HCl) or stomach acid, not a very good choice
if your stomach acid is low.  So I looked to advice from medical articles
listed on PubMed for help.  I found that most studies of the mostly toxic
effects of tin on both animals and humans made use of stannous chloride as
the source of tin.  Stannous chloride (also known as tin (II) chloride) is
a white crystalline substance that readily dissolves in both acid and
water.  Stannous chloride has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.  It
is used in small amounts to preserve freshness and color of canned
asparagus, and it is included in some soaps to make them antimicrobial.
However, stannous chloride is classified as a corrosive hazardous
material.  Nonetheless, stannous chloride has been safely used in human
studies with no adverse effects noted in doses providing less than 50 mg
tin dissolved in 250 ml (about an 8 oz glass) of beverage. [Ref. 5]  Tin
makes up 52.6% of the weight of tin (II) chloride dihydrate (SnCl2.2H2O) so
it would would take about 95 mg of stannous chloride dihydrate to provide
50 mg of tin.  Tin (II) chloride dihydrate can be obtained from chemical
and scientific supply companies.  I obtained 100 grams of reagent grade ACS
certified tin (II) chloride dihydrate from Fisher Scientific.  The
certification assures a level of purity and low levels of contaminants such
as lead and mercury.  Amounts under 1 kilogram can be shipped via UPS or
FedEx, but special handling fees for hazardous material nearly double the
price.  Problem number 2 - how to measure out the dose of stannous choride?

Tin (II) Chloride Dihydrate Certified ACS - Fisher Chemical Product
https://www1.fishersci.com/Coupon?cid=1336&gid=34531

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(Continued in Part 2 of 3)

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