"It’s been known since the 1920s that neurodegenerative disease—illnesses like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s—is associated with increased iron deposition in the brain. In 1924, a towering Parisian neurologist named Jean Lhermitte was among the first to show that certain regions of the brain become congested with abnormal amounts of iron in advanced Parkinson’s disease."
"most surprising was the discovery in 1999 that the pre-cursor to amyloid-b was under direct control by cellular iron levels—the more iron around, the more amyloid was produced"
" In 1991, a team of Canadian scientists published the results of a two-year randomized trial of the iron chelator desferrioxamine in 48 patients with Alzheimer’s disease.46 Chelators are a class of medication that bind metal cations like iron, sequester them, and facilitate their excretion from the body. Patients were randomly allocated to receive desferrioxamine, placebo, or no treatment. The results were impressive—at two years, iron reduction had cut the rate of cognitive decline in half."
Anyone check their blood iron levels?
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I have read before about elevated iron levels but Im not sure what can be done. So what were /are you expecting to happen now you have raised iron levels?
The simple solution would be to enroll as a blood donor...
But is iron a cause or a consequence of PD ?
I remember of a team of neurologists, working in an hospital in Lille (North of France) who were treating their PD patients by removing excess iron from their body with a chelator by the name of défériprone or DFP.
Of note author does mention that it does lean towards cause. Also further down the article,
"For neurodegenerative disease, there has been exactly one. In 1991, a team of Canadian scientists published the results of a two-year randomized trial of the iron chelator desferrioxamine in 48 patients with Alzheimer’s disease.46 Chelators are a class of medication that bind metal cations like iron, sequester them, and facilitate their excretion from the body. Patients were randomly allocated to receive desferrioxamine, placebo, or no treatment. The results were impressive—at two years, iron reduction had cut the rate of cognitive decline in half."
So, more likely a cause or a strong relationship to it.
I was diagnosed with haemoglobitosis ie too much iron about 10 yrs ago. Mine is only a small percentage but it's there. Maybe there is a link. Doesn't help me but maybe my kids can benefit from this knowledge.
The article did state there is an improvement in decline for those reduce their iron.
"In 1991, a team of Canadian scientists published the results of a two-year randomized trial of the iron chelator desferrioxamine in 48 patients with Alzheimer’s disease.46 Chelators are a class of medication that bind metal cations like iron, sequester them, and facilitate their excretion from the body. Patients were randomly allocated to receive desferrioxamine, placebo, or no treatment. The results were impressive—at two years, iron reduction had cut the rate of cognitive decline in half."
Exactly. The iron you eat that comes from veggies is a different form than the iron you get from eating meat. Your gut is really smart and "knows" how much your body needs, so it takes in only what's needed from veggies. But the iron from meat (called heme-iron) sort of pushes its way into your bloodstream whether you need it or not. The liver will remove the excess eventually, but if you keep eating more and more it never quite catches up.
I was diagnosed with hemochromatosis 20 years ago... PD 6 years ago. So high iron may have been the cause. Donating blood brought my iron levels way down into normal range and they have stayed there ever since, but the damage I suppose might have been done.
Knowing this might have been the cause is interesting... but unfortunately not actionable. And as long as I can still taste my food, I am surely not going to stop having a good steak now and then.
Hi iqbaliq. I am convinced that the 'fight or flight' syndrome helps my brain produce more GDNF, which repairs the damaged brain cells. I bring on the fight or flight by doing fast walking for an hour every second day.
I d not suffer from any of the problems you mention and have lived a healthy life since 2002.
Hi Hikoi. I was penning my response to an article posted by IpbalIqbakll. When I got to the 'Reply' prompt I clicked on it and my screen went blank and my response turned up in this string. My compute is playing up and that is just one more problem to solve. Sorry about the confusion!
Oh my goodness, my hubby has always had high iron levels when tested for blood donation....sometimes unable to give. He has Parkinson's, dx around 2013 which I remember due to our 50th wedding anniversary. I may pass this info on to his support group. Thanks.
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