Zinc deficiency can affect many organs because zinc is required for hundreds of enzymes and for normal immune, skin, growth, and nerve function. When zinc is severely low (for example from poor intake, malabsorption, or certain inherited disorders), it can cause a classic syndrome with skin rashes/dermatitis, hair loss (alopecia), diarrhea, frequent infections, poor wound healing, and problems with growth and sexual development.
In children and adolescents, low zinc is strongly tied to growth delay and delayed puberty; in adults it can contribute to impaired immunity and slow healing. These “core” deficiency effects are well described in clinical reviews and by authoritative nutrition references.
Beyond those hallmark signs, zinc deficiency is also commonly seen alongside (and can worsen) a range of chronic diseases—especially conditions that increase inflammation, reduce absorption, or increase zinc loss.
Examples include chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, sickle cell disease, and other chronic illnesses where “conditioned” zinc deficiency is frequently reported.
Research reviews also associate low zinc status with worse outcomes or higher risk profiles in cardiometabolic disease (e.g., links between zinc deficiency, CKD, and cardiovascular risk factors) and lung disease (recent studies associate zinc deficiency with poorer outcomes in COPD).
These associations don’t mean zinc deficiency is the single cause of these diseases, but they support that zinc status can be an important, modifiable piece of the health picture in vulnerable groups.
Zinc deficiency is also tied to neurosensory and quality-of-life problems, most notably reduced taste (hypogeusia) and sometimes smell changes, and cognitive/psychological effects reported in older adults.
Taste/smell issues appear often in zinc deficiency and have been studied in clinical reviews (including settings like post–bariatric surgery where deficiency is common).
Because excess zinc can cause harm (especially by inducing copper deficiency), public-health guidance emphasizes correcting deficiency and staying within evidence-based intake ranges.
References (URLs)
Clinical manifestations / core deficiency syndromes
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3896271/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3053862/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3649098/
Authoritative nutrition guidance
- https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493231/
Chronic disease associations (examples)
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34063377/ (zinc status in CKD/CVD risk factors review)
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41141262/(COPD outcomes and zinc deficiency)
Taste/sensory impacts
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10017214/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9834104/
AMA References
- 1. Prasad AS. Zinc deficiency. BMJ. 1991;302(6769):129-133. doi:10.1136/bmj.302.6769.129.
- 2. King JC, Cousins RJ. Zinc homeostasis in mammals. Adv Nutr. 2010;1(1):13-23. doi:10.3945/an.110.000059.
- 3. National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc: Health Professional Fact Sheet. Updated 2023. Accessed 2026. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/.
- 4. Shankar AH, Prasad AS. Zinc and immune function: the biological basis of altered resistance to infection. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998;68(2 suppl):447S-463S.
- 5. Wessels I, Maywald M, Rink L. Zinc as a gatekeeper of immune function. Int J Mol Sci. 2017;18(6):1257. doi:10.3390/ijms18061257.
- 6. Jayawardena R, Ranasinghe P, Galappatthy P, et al. Effects of zinc supplementation on diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2012;4:13. doi:10.1186/1758-5996-4-13.
- 7. Chasapis CT, Loutsidou AC, Spiliopoulou CA, Stefanidou ME. Zinc and human health: an update. Arch Toxicol. 2012;86(4):521-534. doi:10.1007/s00204-011-0775-1.
- 8. Sensi SL, Paoletti P, Bush AI, Sekler I. Zinc in the physiology and pathology of the CNS. Trends Neurosci. 2009;32(6):333-341. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2009.04.005.
- 9. Tonelli M, Wiebe N, Bello A, et al. Concentrations of trace elements and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2019;14(3):406-414. doi:10.2215/CJN.08200718.
- 10. Fathi M, Alavinejad P, mHaeri SA, et al. Zinc deficiency and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2020;196(1):306-314. doi:10.1007/s12011-019-01965-4.
- 11. Umeta M, West CE, Haidar J, Deurenberg P, Hautvast JG. Zinc supplementation and stunted infants in Ethiopia. Nutr Rev. 2000;58(9):279-284.
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