multivitamin w/iron bad?

I'm not a Dr are you?

From the www.lef.org site "Hemochromatosis is a genetic disease of abnormal iron metabolism. A person who has hemochromatosis absorbs too much iron from an ordinary diet. Consequently, this condition is sometimes called "iron overload" or "iron storage overload." If untreated, hemochromatosis can damage major organs in the body (Roeckel et al. 1998). Iron is a catalyst for the generation of free radical activity that has been identified as an underlying cause of cancer, atherosclerosis, liver cirrhosis, neurological disease, and other aging-related disorders. Approximately 32 million Americans are carriers for hemochromatosis, but only a minority of these carriers actually manifests the disease.

A Swedish study reported in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition also recommended following a diet in which foods were not fortified with iron. Sweden formerly had the highest iron fortification of its food in the world. In January 1995, the iron fortification program was withdrawn because of the uncertain effects and benefits of such fortification. Sixteen men with hemochromatosis were then studied as to the effects of the fortification withdrawal. The study indicated iron absorption was significantly reduced; these effects were measured through quantitative phlebotomy. The study further concluded that those persons with hemochromatosis will have a slower rate of clinical disease progression when their food is not iron fortified (Olsson et al. 1997)."

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http://search.lef.org/src-cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=55&EXTRA_ARG=&CFGNAME=MssFind%2Ecfg&host_id=42&page_id=8983040&query=iron&hiword=iron+
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High Iron Levels Linked to Stroke Progression

According to a study published in Neurology, the American Academy of Neurology’s scientific journal, high iron levels in stroke patients may prompt more severe neurological symptoms and possibly increase brain damage.

Blood ferritin is an indicator of the total amount of iron stored in the body. In high concentrations, it may intensify post-stroke neurological problems such as increased weakness, speech and orientation difficulties, and decreased levels of consciousness. Stroke patients with high ferritin concentrations may also have larger areas of the brain damaged due to stroke.

Neurologist and the study’s lead researcher, Antoni Davalos, MD, at the Hospital Universitari Doctor Josep Trueta in Girona, Spain, said “Patients with ferritin levels higher than 275 ng/mL are 80% more likely to have progressing stroke.” The researchers identified ferritin concentrations in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples taken from 100 stroke patients within 24 hours of stroke onset. The median plasma ferritin concentration of 45 patients who had progressing neurological decline due to stroke was 391 ng/mL. It was 148 ng/mL among those who remained stable or improved. The median ferritin concentration in cerebrospinal fluid was 17.4 ng/mL among the progressing stroke patients compared to 4.8 ng/mL in those less affected.

High body iron stores may increase free radical production in brain cells, thus prompting stroke progression. Iron stores may also cause progressing stroke by enhancing the release of glutamate, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is released in brain cells as a result of stroke. Glutamate then triggers biochemical reactions that lead to brain cell death and the production of free radicals. Measuring glutamate concentration in blood is a strong predictor of neurological deterioration or damage after stroke. About 60 percent of the patients with high ferritin levels also had high glutamate concentrations.

In past studies, blood ferritin concentrations have not been shown to fluctuate during the first 48 hours of stroke. Thus, the study’s researchers concluded that the patients’ high ferritin levels were not the result of the body’s reaction to stroke. The 45 patients with progressing stroke also showed higher body temperatures and blood glucose concentrations, which have been associated with stroke worsening in other studies.

In healthy people, stored iron increases with age. This is the reason why most people should avoid taking supplements that contain iron. Given the relationship between iron deposits and stroke progression, the researchers concluded that blood ferritin levels should be regularly tested in patients with cardiovascular diseases or risk factors.

 

Ferritin is also an acute phase reactant - meaning that it goes up with any inflammation. This is an evolutionary tool that has helped us beat some infections. Bacteria use our iron to help them multiply so that by removing our free serum iron and forming more (stored) ferritin, some bacteria will multiply less vigorously.

Something that this stroke study cannot control for is whether the high ferritin in stroke patients is just due to high stores or is it reflecting acute inflammation. Maybe patients with infections such as a UTI or pneumonia who have a stroke do worse. Or maybe patients with inflammatory conditions such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis or cerebral vasculitis do worse. All these would have a higher ferritin (unless they were iron deficient) but it perhaps is the inflammatory condition that leads to their worse outcome rather than excess iron storage. This study does not answer that.

 

Yes. As you have said, even the majority of carriers (ie heterozygotes) will not get iron overlaod. The rate of people with the disease (ie homozygotes) in the US is:
Whites: 0.3% (= about 6% are carriers)
Blacks: 0.06%
Hispanics: 0.03%

Thus if the person starting this thread is white (ie highest risk), he has a 6% chance of being a carrier of haemchromatosis, and then a small risk (perhaps 10%) of being one of those carriers that does get iron overload. This means he has a better than 99% chance of not having any problems even if he does take a multivitamin with a small amount of iron (perhaps 9mg). As stated earlier, he probably does not need a multivitamin, but if he does take one, he does not need to get stressed about getting too much iron. (As an aside, a greater concern for vitamin junkies is excess Vitamin A).

 

FDA is for little old ladies so they don't OD.

I pound vitamins and minerals all day. Sure, you can have too much of some and they can be toxic, just be smart. IMAO If you are young and active you need more. Eg. Just try to work out hard for a week and skip the B vitamins. Your nervous system will not be happy. I know from experience, once I ran out of B-complex and forgot to buy some. So I didn't take any for a few weeks. Then something strange happened, my knees started collapsing under my bodyweight (230lbs) when I'd go upstairs (yes, it was scary). It happened daily for about a week and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I mentioned it to a rather large buddy of mine and he simply asked me if I had been taking my B-complex. No I hadn't and as soon as I started up again on the B-complex the problem went away and has never come back.

But what do I know...flame away...

 

Yes she did.

 

Yes for all but grains. I don't eat gluten.

 

Ok. aren't you a lucky bunch. I have homozygous heamachromatosis. my parents were both carriers of the gene and i was the lucky 25%. my sister does not have the gene and my brother is not sure. My uncle on my mothers side last year found out he had it and had an iron level in excess of 1400 nanograms per unit (i think thats the measurement) currently i have about 200 and was up to 330(which is not that high but enough to give me ongoing fatigue).

I will give blood for the rest of my life every three months to maintain my health which is fantastic because the Australian red cross blood service uses my blood products for transfusions etc etc and that makes me very happy.In reality I'm just a normal blood donor , that has to give blood.

Any questions on the world's most common blood disorder, I'm only too happy to answer them if i can.
this a great, simple to read site where i glean a lot of my info. have a look if you need to know about hemo.
http://cmmyakman.tripod.com/HFE/hemochromatosis.htm

 

Centrum vitamins ..I came apon this site from google and read ur post.wow well you see Im 16 years old and this doctor sugested them to me last may ,when i got overdosed, he sugested them to me beacuase i was so low in vitamins .so Since then i've been taking them but never to sure if I should be.

 

The iron in most multis is ussually a small amount and not as absorbable as red meat (heme) iron but men after they stop growing ussually end up with an excess of iron so iron free is better. If you eat red meat once a week you probably got enough remember optimal levels is what you want high or low iron can cause fatigue. A good way to lower iron is to have brown rice once in a while. Another thing I noticed about my multi is the panothenic acid (B5) was high and probably putting a load on my kidneys I am looking for a multi with the minimal amounts of everything to just cover all my bases and Shacklee's looks pretty good I will probably try them next.

 

Most of the time i just ensure i have a varied diet. I eat steak a couple of times a week, chicken, mackerel, cherries, kiwi, raddish....all sorts of stuff.

The only time i take a multivit (gnc athletes formula) is when i have been training really hard for 3/4 days without a break.

I used to spend a fortune on lots and lots of different "supplements", but now i prefer to spend the money on real food. There is no iron tablet that tastes as good as a steak!

Only stuff I'm using right now is Colostrum and like i said very occasionally the gnc stuff.

(Incidentally I'd be interested to hear Rick/rst opinion on colostrum in the other thread....)