Possible dangers of too much iron.

[Madlegs1]

Iron supplementation is often advised on this forum.

This article points up new research on the effect of iron on Alzheimer's.

I would appreciate anyone with medical knowledge running their eye over this in case of any relevance to RLS. They do mention MS, which can be associated with RLS.

Lhlklttps://medicalnewstoday.com/articl...

Thanks.

[DicCarlson]

Iron metabolism is incredibly complex. I don't pretend to understand it but it is a big player in RLS, that's for sure. Much more to learn in this article. I would not let fear of Alzheimer's keep you from simple iron supplementation for RLS. It helped me with immediate results!

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Joolsg]

Thanks Madlegs, fascinating.I was always aware that excess iron could make my MS worse, but the RLS was so severe, I had to try everything. Iron infusions didn't help my RLS.

My yearly MRIs haven't shown any further lesions caused by demyelination since my iron infusion in 2019.

[Amrob]

Not a medical perspective but my understanding (from having read on the subject) is that there is some brain iron dysregulation going on in both Alzheimer's and RLS. With Alzheimer's the dysregulation results in too much iron in the brain. With RLS, it results in insufficient iron in the brain.

The real problem is when the iron settles in the vital organs and is not "cleaned up" by other physiological processes.

I don't believe this settling in vital organs happens just by virtue of taking iron supplements or having an iron infusion. If high levels of iron remain in the body, then theoretically, it could happen. People tend to shed iron either through menses, or through the body's uptake of iron that is then not replaced by diet. I.e. generally the iron goes somewhere.

That said, I don't believe that iron infusions are as benign as they are held out to be.

As DicCarlson has said, iron metabolism is a very complex subject.

[LineVec in reply to Amrob]

I took oral iron-glycinate now for several months. Do you think I overloaded my organs?

[Madlegs1 in reply to LineVec]

You should always take iron supplements in coordination with your doctor.

Blood testing will tell whether you have too much.

In general, ferritin upto 1000 is not regarded as dangerous, unless you experience symptoms such as aching joints , jaundice etc.

[LineVec in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you so much, yes did it on Monday and get the results next Monday. Well I took it for a while but also felt the side effects of iron.

[fabPhilly]

FWIW......An interesting, seemingly well researched opinion on iron and it's relationship with copper. Morley Robbins. therootcauseprotocol.com.