Organized by the French Speaking Society for Study and Research on Essential Trace Elements (SFERETE), the Fifth International Congress on Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology "Therapeutic Uses of Trace Elements" was held February 4-7. 1996, in Meribel (Savoy, France). This resort is situated in the heart of the Three Valleys domain, at the gate way of the beautiful Vanoise National Park. More than 250 participants covering six conti nents attended the meeting. This volume contains the text of plenary lectures and of several oral and poster communications. Trace element deficiencies are not only encountered in developing countries or during malnutrition. Subclinical features are also observed in developed societies where they consti tute a background for an impressive number of pathological states. Preventive and curative treatments with commercial products are often prescribed without reliable studies about their clinical interest or potential efficiency. By contrast empirical approaches such as the catalytic therapy, nutritional and pharmacological aspects of trace elements were emphasized on a sci entific basis to favor their rational therapeutic use.

Essential Role, Forms and Conditions of Administration of Trace Elements. Risk Assessment for Essential Trace Elements in Humans; W. Mertz. Trace Element Supplementation at Different Periods of Age. Essential Trace Elements in the Nutrition of Infants; B. Bratter. Trace Elements in Relation with Inflammatory Conditions and Infections and in Digestive Diseases. Copper and Zinc in the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Inflammatory Disorders; R. Milanino, et al. Trace Elements in Endocrinology and Nutrition. Type II Diabetes and Chromium; R.A. Anderson, et al. Pharmacological Applications of Trace Elements. Pharmacological Uses of Zinca and Other Trace Elements in Dermatology; M.T. Leccia. Trace Eleents, Teeth, Bone Physiology and Bone Diseases. Trace Elements and Bone Metabolism; A. Peretz. Status, Epidemiology of Trace Elements and Intervention Studies. Degree, Clinical Consequences and Eradication of Iodine Deficiency in Europe; F. Delange. Genetic Disorders of Copper Metabolism. The Copper-Transporting ATPases Defective in Menkes Disease and Wilson Disease; D. Cox. 66 Additional Articles. Index.