Thank you for the reminder to have us check HFE gene. (GG so normal)
Should we get both serum iron and ferritin checked, or both?
I would just get ferritin at a minimum, if your doctor won't do it request a test has it for $29. Transferrin Saturation % is also useful as it relates to Hemochromatosis but I would start with ferritin.
Have you researched the brain iron dsyregulation concept as it relates to AD, and come to any opinion?
I have not, but iron overload affects everything so it wouldn't surprise me if there is a relationship.
Great blog! I see a keen interest in physical fitness. Any insight as to whether this is associated with e4/e4 discovery or other connection to AD prevention?
Not sure I understand the question. I found out I was e4/e4 while I was confirming I had Hereditary Hemochromatosis. I do believe that exercise is very important in maintaining brain function.
simonh01 wrote:Not sure I understand the question. I found out I was e4/e4 while I was confirming I had Hereditary Hemochromatosis. I do believe that exercise is very important in maintaining brain function.
Sorry, I meant have you been keen on physical fitness prior to e4/e4 discovery, that is, a general lifestyle predisposition, or did you take up physical fitness importance AFTER e4/e4 discovery? I strongly believe physical fitness is an epigenetic intervention tool for neurodegenerative disease, and made it a lifestyle priority only after finding out I was E4.
simonh01 wrote:Not sure I understand the question. I found out I was e4/e4 while I was confirming I had Hereditary Hemochromatosis. I do believe that exercise is very important in maintaining brain function.
Sorry, I meant have you been keen on physical fitness prior to e4/e4 discovery, that is, a general lifestyle predisposition, or did you take up physical fitness importance AFTER e4/e4 discovery? I strongly believe physical fitness is an epigenetic intervention tool for neurodegenerative disease, and made it a lifestyle priority only after finding out I was E4.
I've always been into physical fitness (in the fact I worked out) although with the blog I'm now even more into it. The e4/e4 discovery was driven by my need to try and optimize my health and fitness. I didn't change a whole lot once I made the e4/e4 discovery although my general fitness philosophy is much more balanced than it used to be. In the past I only lifted weights. I had already changed my diet when I discovered e4/e4, I did however slightly reduce my sat fat and replaced it with olive oil but that's about it.
Thank you, thank you MarcR (and others) who raised the ferritin overload issue. I remembered my ferritin had been checked a couple of years ago when I had some rectal bleeding followed by a colonoscopy. Turned out it was an internal haemorrhoid thankfully. I remember doc saying at the time " You are holding onto your iron stores well" I felt quite proud of myself (Lol!!)
I didn't give it another thought until I read Marc's post. I checked my numbers 172!! Still, it said the normal range was 20-380 so I wasn't unduly concerned at that point. That changed however, during a discussion with Dr. Jafa on the ferritin levels he generally sees in women my age. 20 to 40! Since then have retested and had levels of 200 and 189. Very strange. I don't take iron supplements or vitamin C and have red meat once a week. Turns out I'm heterozygous for Haemachromotosis. Venesection happening shortly. Will never know which parent passed the gene to me. My mother had Alzheimer's in her eighties, as did her mother. Like you MarcR, I shall be telling my 2 adult sons to donate blood and keep an eye on their ferritin level. My daughter will not be pleased to hear this. She has terrible veins and dreads blood tests, however she probably won't have to worry til menopause.
Just querying this assertion in PD Mangan's book "Dumping Iron: how to ditch this killer and reclaim your health" re men having higher rates of Alzheimer's than women? My apologies for the syntax, this social media thing is new ground. Attachment follows:
IMG_3023.PNG
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
I'm glad you found the discussion and book helpful, Jafa. Regarding this assertion from the book ...
Dumping Iron wrote:Men suffer greater rates of cancer, heart disease, and brain-degenerative disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's than women. Iron is implicated in all of these maladies.
... I don't know as I see no footnote for that remark. The cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson's rates do seem to be higher for men - perhaps including AD was just an oversight?
Serious disease rate calculations are complicated as we don't know what percentage of the men who die of heart attacks in their '40s and '50s would have otherwise been around to get AD in their '60s along with the women whose hearts disproportionately survive middle age; however, the consensus that women are more vulnerable to AD seems to me to be pretty well founded.
MarcR wrote:I'm glad you found the discussion and book helpful, Jafa. Regarding this assertion from the book ...
Dumping Iron wrote:Men suffer greater rates of cancer, heart disease, and brain-degenerative disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's than women. Iron is implicated in all of these maladies.
... I don't know as I see no footnote for that remark. The cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson's rates do seem to be higher for men - perhaps including AD was just an oversight?
Serious disease rate calculations are complicated as we don't know what percentage of the men who die of heart attacks in their '40s and '50s would have otherwise been around to get AD in their '60s along with the women whose hearts disproportionately survive middle age; however, the consensus that women are more vulnerable to AD seems to me to be pretty well founded.
I believe its the opposite, There is an increased risk for women to have Alzheimer's disease. Of course, more women are alive at age 85 than men proportionately. However, the odds ratio for women to develop Alzheimer's disease is 1.56. In other words, for every one man who gets Alzheimer's disease, one and a half women get Alzheimer's disease.
Interestingly, my ferritin has been 17 (normal range 15-150) last 2 blood draws, with normal CBC (no anemia) most recently. My functional medicine doc is concerned that this too low ferritin is driving worsening thyroid function and wants me to start iron supplements. I am a postmenopausal vegetarian that is trying to eat a little fish for more fat, omega 3s, and protein. I am thinking about getting an iron/TIBC test prior to starting iron supplement.
Dumping Iron wrote:Men suffer greater rates of cancer, heart disease, and brain-degenerative disorders like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's than women. Iron is implicated in all of these maladies.
I don't know as I see no footnote for that remark. The cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson's rates do seem to be higher for men - perhaps including AD was just an oversight?
I asked Dennis Mangan about this, and he put me onto an interesting paper (Clinical epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease: assessing sex and gender differences) that I don't think has been discussed here. It's a broad-ranging survey of the evidence that yielded insights and raised new questions. It even touches briefly on gender differences with respect to APOE-ε4 status and references 11 other papers in that context.
The paper doesn't answer definitively the question that arose in this topic - it's complicated. For example, men are more likely to get mild cognitive impairment, and women are more likely to progress to full-on AD. AD rates are similar until age 78; afterward, women have higher incidence.
This could be the reasons for your low iron. If you're vegetarian for ethical reasons then I guess you could supplement. But if its for health reasons you need to seriously consider the nutrients you are missing by not eating meat. Iron is one but B12 is another you should probably supplement with. For iron you want to consume clams, liver, and red meat. This might help.
