posted
Men are far less likely to have slight iron deficiencies (or true anemia, for that matter) than pre-menopausal women.
Moreover, some men and a fair number of post-menopausal women have iron levels that are too HIGH, which causes other health complications. Checking your iron levels is a pretty simple blood test. Just go donate blood, and they'll do it for you for free. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
The article says that iron increase brain power in iron-deficient women.
If your iron levels are normal, it is not necessary to take iron supplements, and could even be harmful if your iron is on the high side.
quote:However, he cautions that women of Anglo-Saxon origins should not rush to take iron supplements without proper medical examination. This is because about one in 20 people of Anglo-Saxon origin carry a gene for "iron overload" or heredity haemochromatosis.
posted
Iron's such a screwed up mineral. You can find literature that claims adding it will cure just about everything and taking it away will cure everything. It's nuts.
And I'm really surprised to hear that healthy people have iron counts that are higher than normal. The human body is terrible both at absorbing and excreting iron. Generally the only way for an otherwise healthy person to overload is by a blood transfusions.
Edit: Oh wait, are you guys talking about levels that are on the high side of normal as opposed to being high enough to pose a significant health risk?
[ April 20, 2004, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Bob the Lawyer ]
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote:Oh wait, are you guys talking about levels that are on the high side of normal as opposed to being high enough to pose a significant health risk?
posted
Ah so. Although it's worth pointing out that only ~0.5% of the population have both copies of the gene.
I was wondering why the fact that 5% (1 in 20) of people in America suffer from iron overload wasn't all over the news. Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
