Re: Re: Intro - Palma to Cindy,IRON

[Guest guest]

Cindy-- wow, this is contradictory to everything i've heard about ferritin. everyone has been telling me to have it above 50. this is so confusing. i can give you my iron levels that were done on 10-26-05: Total Iron 81 range of 35-175 Iron Binding Capacity 334 range of 250-400 % Saturation 24 range of 15-50 Parietal Cell AB with Refl Titer

<1:20 <1:20 is none detected.Cindy wrote: but I would sure be taking iron, at least in small doses, with a ferritin count like that.> > >> > Ferritin> 10-14-05 23 range is 10-154> 12-12-05 24 same range> 2-14-06 20 same range> 6-28-06 23 same range> 2-22-07 25> I must interject here.....Ferritin of 20 is perfectly fine.... You need to also take a couple other iron tests. YOU must NEVER Take IRON unless you have been tested properly & KNOW what is going on. IF you actully want to know what to do to help yourself , PLEASE go to www.IRONOVERLOAD.org Everytime I see a post on here about IRON I will repost something similar to this until you all get the message...lol... Cindy Sue Test # 1 After a 12 hour fast, measure Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and the Serum Iron (SI). To achieve the percentage of Saturation you divide the TIBC into SI.. Serum

Iron SI ------- = Yields Transferrin Saturation (TS) Total Iron Binding TIBC or in some labs Percentage of Saturation Capacity Safe range = 12-44% Any values above this range must be considered diagnostic for hemochromatosis and should cause immediate protocol treatment. Any values far below this range may be a sign of bleeding ulcers, chronic infection or cancer. Physicians should look for the cause of anemia. Test # 2 Using the blood from the first draw, next check the amount of storage iron - Serum Ferritin (SF) Safe range = 5-150 A hemochromatosis patient needs to be at the lowest end of this range. We say below 10. This needs to be the treatment goal. Test # 3This next test is given less frequently. It is initialized as UIBC. It stands for unbound iron binding capacity. Safe range is above = 146 Fact Sheet 1. Undetected or untreated excess iron kills after inflicting injury to a variety of body organs. 2. The patient's and physician's concern must be to detect any excess iron instead of "establishing a diagnosis of hemochromatosis." 3. A complete physical must include: Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and Serum Iron (SI). Divide the SI by TIBC for percentage of Transferrin Saturation TS. Normal range:

12-45%. The same blood may be used to measure Serum Ferritin. Normal range: 5 to 150. 4. If TS is elevated, the individual should begin treatment. Some literature suggests treatment when ferritin alone is elevated. Giving blood does no harm, and instead is beneficial to health. About one-fourth of patients have iron-loading anemia (low hemoglobin). Treatment is the same unless the anemia is so severe that blood transfusions are required. Maintaining a hemoglobin of 10 or hematocrit of 30 percent makes the patient treatable with bloodletting. Severely anemic patients require iron removal by an iron chelator, Desferal. All anemic patients benefit with B complex supplements, including folic acid, B12 and B6. 5. Hemochromatosis is completely preventable. When diagnosis is in doubt, the patient should begin a trial of weekly phlebotomies at the

blood bank. Four to six weeks will usually provide the answer. Getting rid of a little excess iron will only improve health. 6. The patient should take to the blood bank a physician's order for weekly phlebotomies. Cutoff on hematocrit should be between 30 and 35 percent. 7. A liver biopsy is not always necessary, and should not be allowed to delay treatment. 8. When iron levels test low, the cause must be found. This can be a valuable clue to cancer, ulcer or other chronic blood loss or infection. It's dangerous to medicate with iron without first testing and second, finding the reason for any deficiency. 9. DNA testing is not reasonable for diagnosis. Labs do not test for all of the 40 mutations so far published. Others wait to be identified. 10. Discovering excess iron without vigorous treatment is

useless. The patient's goal is to prevent liver cancer, heart attack or stroke. He does that by unloading storage iron as fast as possible. Objective: ferritin below 10. 11. All blood relatives of the patient must be evaluated and monitored yearly. 12. A low iron diet is not recommended. Avoid alcohol, vitamin C additives and raw seafood. The Vibrio vulnificus in some raw seafood kills a number of people every year, usually those with undetected iron overload. 13. Symptoms vary too much to help with diagnosis. Chronic fatigue, arthritis, anemia (iron-loading anemia is one symptom), and elevated liver enzymes must not be ignored. Hemoglobin level does not indicate iron status. A disorder of thyroid or any part of the body can be a symptom of iron overload. 14. Excess iron lowers the immune system. Many diseases will show a poor

outcome unless any excess iron is removed: AIDs, cancer and hepatitis, for example. 15. Iron does cross the blood brain barrier, contrary to old belief. Excess iron stored in the brain has been found to exacerbate severity in Alzheimer's, MS, Lou Gehrig's, Parkinson's and other diseases. Iron in the brain also leads to psychological problems. 16. Hereditary hemochromatosis is only one of several iron-loading diseases. But its frequency alone is one in 200 people with double mutations and 13 percent of the population with a single mutation. Two populations have been studied that have twice this prevalence. Irish-Americans and African-Americans have one in 100 with double expression of the mutations and 20 percent with single expression. Iron overload is called the most common genetic disease. Tragically, it is still under diagnosed. 17. The goal of medicine

is to provide maximum preventive care at the least expense. Patients must be aware of iron overload for their own protection. IOD honors the increasing number of physicians who are updating their information on iron overload. ---

Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debatein the Yahoo! Answers Food Drink Q&A.