Copper

Copper is a very important mineral that helps many of our body’s enzymes work properly. Sometimes, the way our body handles copper can be off, like in Wilson’s disease, Menkes disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, and Indian childhood cirrhosis.

The amount of copper in our blood can go up when we have an infection or when a woman is in the last part of her pregnancy. It can go down if someone has kidney problems, trouble absorbing nutrients from food, or isn’t getting enough nutrients.

Doctors also check copper levels to see how well babies who were born too early are doing on their special diets. When checking copper levels, doctors often look at another test called ceruloplasmin to understand the results better.