Iron Man

“Can you donate blood?”  The question catches me off-guard.  I’m in the office of my new family doctor, reviewing the results of my recent blood tests.  

So far, no big surprises.  My cholesterol is okay, I’m low on omega-3s, my insulin sensitivity is so-so, my genetics are generally good…  This new doc is a bit unconventional, but very thorough.  When she orders blood tests, she orders BLOOD TESTS. The report is 5 pages long and has a dizzying list of letters and numbers that, for me, might as well be hieroglyphics (or a quarterly 401k statement).  But she flies through the report, decoding the numbers and offering me helpful lifestyle tips, like eating less sugar and more fish.

All good, until we get to the blood-donation thing.  “Um, well… I haven’t donated blood,” I admit, sheepishly.  

“Okay, but I mean, will they allow you to?  The reason I ask is that your ferritin levels are quite high.”

“Ferritin?” I say, reaching back for a scrap of knowledge from high school chemistry, “Is that, like, iron?”

She explains that yes, it is, and in order to bring my levels back to normal, I should try a bit of bloodletting.

Bloodletting!?  What century is this?  I smile and nod, but by the time I get home I’m shaking my head, thinking, well, as long as I don’t run into Magneto in a dark alley, I’m probably fine.  And anyway, isn't iron a nutrient that we need?  That's why breakfast cereals are always fortified with it.  So I'm just a little more "fortified" than most.  I promptly go ahead and forget all about it. 

That is, until last month, when I read “Iron is the New Cholesterol” in Nautilus science magazine.  In this short article, author Clayton Dalton reviews the science on high blood iron levels, citing an impressive 46 medical studies.  And the picture isn’t pretty.  It turns out that high iron is associated with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s... all that fun stuff.  It turns out that you can have too much of a good thing.

Whaaaaaat!?  How is it that we haven’t heard about this?  Why isn’t this on every nightly news story: “THE KILLER IN YOUR BLOOD” or some such thing, rather than the latest industry-sponsored study telling us that coconut oil will make us live forever (or kill us immediately, depending on the day of the week)?

The Nautilus article is well-written and eye-opening, while staying balanced.  One caveat that Dalton makes clear is that most all of the studies on ferritin are epidemiological — that is, they can show that high levels correlate with these diseases, but don’t prove causation.  It’s true, for example, that blood donors are healthier and live longer, but it's possible that they also practice other healthy habits, like eating right and exercising.   

Dalton does mention, though, that the few controlled trials so far have shown promising results.  Researchers have found that even a single bloodletting session improved a patient's blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin sensitivity, and blood cholesterol, even 6 weeks after the treatment. 

From here, I discovered P.D. Mangan’s book Dumping Iron.  I’m just a few chapters in, but Mangan gives a terrific, layman-friendly overview of the causes and effects of too much iron, as well as who’s at risk and what to do about it.  (I'm looking at you, middle-aged men.)

So, should you run out to your nearest Red Cross?  Of course you should — duh.  They give you a free Dunkin’ Donuts gift card!  (Oh, and you’ll help save somebody's life and all that.) But will it improve your own health?  Hard to say at this stage in the game, but all signs point to “yes.”  With such a big upside and so little downside, it’s probably worth doing.  With apologies to the great Flannery O’Connor, “the life you save may be your own.”

Note: The ramblings published on this blog are the opinions of the author alone and shared for entertainment purposes only.  The author is an English major with no medical or scientific background; thus, his words should never be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your doctor or medical professional before undertaking any diet, exercise program, supplementation or treatment.