General fitness, health and nutrition · Public discussion

Gabe Mirkin on Iron Store Levels

George W. Cherr · 2004-04-25T04:42:33+00:00

Dear Dr. Mirkin: My son is concerned that he may not be getting enough iron. Should he take supplements? Not unless blood tests show he has a deficiency. Several studies have shown that high blood levels of iron are associated with an increased risk of suffering heart attacks and cancers, particularly, those of the esophagus and bladder. A study from Harvard showed that it may be the meat source of iron, rather than just the iron itself, that causes the heart attacks and cancers. People who eat a lot of meat, fish and chicken have higher blood levels of iron than vegetarians. The iron in meat, fish and chicken is called heme iron, which is absorbed at a very high level, around 10-20 percent. On the other hand, the iron that you get from plants is absorbed very poorly; only one to three percent of the iron from leafy green vegetables and other plant sources of iron is absorbed. You can find out if your iron level is too high by asking you doctor to draw blood for a test called transferrin iron binding saturation. People with a transferrin iron binding saturation of more than 60 percent are at increased risk for developing heart attacks and cancers. If your level is greater than 60 percent, you can reduce your intake of iron by restricting meat, fish, chicken and iron-supplemented foods, and you can get rid of extra iron by donating blood six or more times a year.

Started by George W. Cherr · 25 April 2004 · Last activity 25 April 2004 · 3 posts · 415 views

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Original section: General fitness, health and nutrition
Published: 25 April 2004
Last activity: 25 April 2004
Original author: George W. Cherr
Posts: 3
Discussion status: Public discussion
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Original post
George W. Cherr
Archived post

25 April 2004, 04:42 UTC #1

Dear Dr. Mirkin: My son is concerned that he may not be
getting enough iron. Should he take supplements?
Not unless blood tests show he has a deficiency.
Several studies have shown that high blood levels of
iron are associated with an increased risk of
suffering heart attacks and cancers, particularly,
those of the esophagus and bladder. A study from
Harvard showed that it may be the meat source of
iron, rather than just the iron itself, that causes
the heart attacks and cancers. People who eat a lot
of meat, fish and chicken have higher blood levels
of iron than vegetarians. The iron in meat, fish and
chicken is called heme iron, which is absorbed at a
very high level, around 10-20 percent. On the other
hand, the iron that you get from plants is absorbed
very poorly; only one to three percent of the iron
from leafy green vegetables and other plant sources
of iron is absorbed. You can find out if your iron
level is too high by asking you doctor to draw blood
for a test called transferrin iron binding
saturation. People with a transferrin iron binding
saturation of more than 60 percent are at increased
risk for developing heart attacks and cancers. If
your level is greater than 60 percent, you can
reduce your intake of iron by restricting meat,
fish, chicken and iron-supplemented foods, and you
can get rid of extra iron by donating blood six or
more times a year.

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Doe
Archived post

25 April 2004, 16:03 UTC #2

Quoted message said:
Subject: Gabe Mirkin on Iron Store Levels
From: "George W. Cherry" [email hidden]
Date: 4/24/2004 10:08 PM Mountain Daylight Time
Message-id: <vRGic.25847$IW1.1248468@attbi_s52>
Dear Dr. Mirkin: My son is concerned that he may not be
getting enough iron. Should he take supplements?
Not unless blood tests show he has a deficiency.
Several studies have shown that high blood levels of
iron are associated with an increased risk of
suffering heart attacks and cancers, particularly,
those of the esophagus and bladder. A study from
Harvard showed that it may be the meat source of
iron, rather than just the iron itself, that causes
the heart attacks and cancers. People who eat a lot
of meat, fish and chicken have higher blood levels
of iron than vegetarians. The iron in meat, fish and
chicken is called heme iron, which is absorbed at a
very high level, around 10-20 percent. On the other
hand, the iron that you get from plants is absorbed
very poorly; only one to three percent of the iron
from leafy green vegetables and other plant sources
of iron is absorbed. You can find out if your iron
level is too high by asking you doctor to draw blood
for a test called transferrin iron binding
saturation. People with a transferrin iron binding
saturation of more than 60 percent are at increased
risk for developing heart attacks and cancers. If
your level is greater than 60 percent, you can
reduce your intake of iron by restricting meat,
fish, chicken and iron-supplemented foods, and you
can get rid of extra iron by donating blood six or
more times a year.
The man .. knows .. his .. stuff .. EXCEPT .. the studies
seem to show .. 35% saturation is the point at which they
have shown iron to be NOT .. free .. and unbound ..
So the 60% saturation is just .. a .. wee .. bit .. off ..
J Hepatol 2000 May;32(5):727-33
Determination of non-transferrin-bound iron in genetic
hemochromatosis using a new HPLC-based method.
Loreal O, Gosriwatana I, Guyader D, Porter J, Brissot
P, Hider RC
INSERM U522, CHR Pontchaillou, Rennes, France. [Medline
record in process] BACKGROUND/AIMS: Non-transferrin-bound
iron may play a major pathogenic role in iron overload
diseases due to its high hepatic uptake and potential
damaging effect. The aim of this study was to evaluate
the relevance of measuring serum non-transferrin-bound
iron levels in genetic hemochromatosis using a new high
performance liquid chromatography-based method. METHODS:
This method includes a presaturation step of transferrin
with cobalt(II) in order to avoid secondary deplacement
of non-transferrin-bound iron toward transferrin during
the assay. Six genetic hemochromatotic patients were
followed serially during venesection treatment.
RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate:
(i) that this new method permits detection of non-transferrin-
bound iron when transferrin is not fully saturated,
(ii) that non-transferrin-bound iron levels persist
almost until the completion of treatment,
(iii) that non-transferrin-bound iron levels are well
correlated with transferrin saturation for a given
patient, and
(iv) that despite some individual variations, a
transferrin saturation value lower than 35% usually
corresponds to the disappearance of non-transferrin-
bound iron.
PMID: 10845658, UI: 20302281
_______________________________________________________-
__________
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! jesuswasavegetarian.7h.comjesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore!
pages.ivillage.commanisaherbivore DEAD
PEOPLE WALKING
pages.ivillage.comdeadpeoplewalking

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markd
Archived post

25 April 2004, 23:44 UTC #3

Yeah, I read the good doc's newsletter today and thought of
you Tom. The main point not to over look in both bits of
info is the concern deals with disease related to specific
and not so common blood overload situations, not the
general meat eating population. This is particulary the
case with the genetic conditon in the second article. I
wondered where you got the 35 number berfore, now we know.
If one has that rare genetic disorder keeping iron activity
below that level is good, for others keep it below 60; and
for most people it will never be a concern. If anything,
for many people, which started the first article, if
anything, iron anemia will be a problem, especially in
women and children. There is nothing new in the first
article, just the standard knowledge, some of which was
reviewd in the mini iron tutorial, did you read it Tom,
lot's of material for you to digest.
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
Dear Dr. Mirkin: My son is concerned that he may not be
getting enough iron. Should he take supplements?
Not unless blood tests show he has a deficiency.
Several studies have shown that high blood levels
of iron are associated with an increased risk of
suffering heart attacks and cancers, particularly,
those of the esophagus and bladder. A study from
Harvard showed that it may be the meat source of
iron, rather than just the iron itself, that causes
the heart attacks and cancers. People who eat a lot
of meat, fish and chicken have higher blood levels
of iron than vegetarians. The iron in meat, fish
and chicken is called heme iron, which is absorbed
at a very high level, around 10-20 percent. On the
other hand, the iron that you get from plants is
absorbed very poorly; only one to three percent of
the iron from leafy green vegetables and other
plant sources of iron is absorbed. You can find out
if your iron level is too high by asking you doctor
to draw blood for a test called transferrin iron
binding saturation. People with a transferrin iron
binding saturation of more than 60 percent are at
increased risk for developing heart attacks and
cancers. If your level is greater than 60 percent,
you can reduce your intake of iron by restricting
meat, fish, chicken and iron-supplemented foods,
and you can get rid of extra iron by donating blood
six or more times a year.
The man .. knows .. his .. stuff .. EXCEPT .. the studies
seem to show .. 35% saturation is the point at which they
have shown iron to be NOT .. free .. and unbound ..
So the 60% saturation is just .. a .. wee .. bit .. off ..
J Hepatol 2000 May;32(5):727-33
Determination of non-transferrin-bound iron in genetic
hemochromatosis using a new HPLC-based method.
Loreal O, Gosriwatana I, Guyader D, Porter J, Brissot
P, Hider RC
INSERM U522, CHR Pontchaillou, Rennes, France. [Medline
record in process] BACKGROUND/AIMS: Non-transferrin-
bound iron may play a major pathogenic role in iron
overload diseases due to its high hepatic uptake and
potential damaging effect. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the relevance of measuring serum non-transferrin-
bound iron levels in genetic hemochromatosis using a new
high performance liquid chromatography-based method.
METHODS: This method includes a presaturation step of
transferrin with cobalt(II) in order to avoid secondary
deplacement of non-transferrin-bound iron toward
transferrin during the assay. Six genetic
hemochromatotic patients were followed serially during
venesection treatment.
RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate:
(i) that this new method permits detection of non-transferrin-
bound iron when transferrin is not fully
saturated,
(ii) that non-transferrin-bound iron levels persist
almost until the completion of treatment,
(iii) that non-transferrin-bound iron levels are well
correlated with transferrin saturation for a given
patient, and
(iv) that despite some individual variations, a
transferrin saturation value lower than 35%
usually corresponds to the disappearance of non-transferrin-
bound iron.
PMID: 10845658, UI: 20302281
______________________________________________________-
___________
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! jesuswasavegetarian.7h.comjesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore!
pages.ivillage.commanisaherbivore DEAD
PEOPLE WALKING
pages.ivillage.comdeadpeoplewalking

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