Period 5 element dimethyl telluride, (CH)Te, a gas with a garlic-like odor which is exhaled in the breath of victims of tellurium toxicity or exposure. Iodine is the heaviest essential element utilized widely by life in biological functions (only tungsten, employed in enzymes by a few species of bacteria, is heavier). Iodine's rarity in many soils, due to initial low abundance as a crust-element, and also leaching of soluble iodide by rainwater, has led to many deficiency problems in land animals and inland human populations. Iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities. Iodine is
Nutritional neuroscience β-mono-oxygenase is affected by copper deficiency leading to increased dopamine and decreased norepinephrine levels. Both copper deficiency and toxicity can interfere with brain development and function. The neurodegenerative syndrome of copper deficiency has been recognized for some time in ruminant animals, in which it is commonly known as "swayback". The disease involves a nutritional deficiency in the trace element copper. Copper is ubiquitous and daily requirement is low making acquired copper deficiency very rare. Copper deficiency can manifest in parallel with vitamin B12 and other nutritional deficiencies. The most common cause of copper deficiency is a remote gastrointestinal surgery, such