Blood iron levels could be key to slowing ageing, gene study shows:
The international study using genetic data from more than a million people suggests that maintaining healthy levels of iron in the blood could be a key to ageing better and living longer.
[...] Scientists from the University of Edinburgh and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Germany focused on three measures linked to biological ageing - lifespan, years of life lived free of disease (healthspan), and being extremely long-lived (longevity).
[...] The researchers pooled information from three public datasets to enable an analysis in unprecedented detail. The combined dataset was equivalent to studying 1.75 million lifespans or more than 60,000 extremely long-lived people.
The team pinpointed ten regions of the genome linked to long lifespan, healthspan and longevity. They also found that gene sets linked to iron were overrepresented in their analysis of all three measures of ageing.
[...] Blood iron is affected by diet and abnormally high or low levels are linked to age-related conditions such as Parkinson's disease, liver disease and a decline in the body's ability to fight infection in older age.
Journal Reference:
Paul R. H. J. Timmers, James F. Wilson, Peter K. Joshi, et al. Multivariate genomic scan implicates novel loci and haem metabolism in human ageing [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17312-3)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @01:35AM (2 children)
Peter Thiel probably funded this research..
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @01:47AM
Just the opposite, people are getting too much iron so reduce it by eating less red meat or giving blood
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @03:02AM
I notice that over the air broadcast TV is nothing but ads for geriatric medicine. In Trump America, only Boomers watch Television! And, it seems, SoylentNews is just another channel. "Ask your doctor about your iron levels! Side-effects include, dry mouth, increased magnetic attraction, diarrhea, sudden death syndrome, and passing stools."
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @02:06AM (12 children)
And what is the ideal level of iron in the blood?
"Too much" is bad, "too little" is bad, too.
No shit, sherlock.
Seriously, what is the information in this summary? How are you supposed to even form an opinion on such post?
(Score: 4, Informative) by RS3 on Monday July 20 2020, @02:35AM (8 children)
I think you answered your own question. If instead of being contrarian and critical, you instead see that they're saying iron level is important, then that would form the basic motivation for further study, tests, and/or just being aware of the potential for iron-related problems. It's going to vary for each individual, and could point to other possible treatable problems.
You can range from iron-deficiency anemia https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/iron-deficiency-anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355034 [mayoclinic.org] to excess iron buildup called hemochromatosis https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351443 [mayoclinic.org]. And you can't just give an iron-deficient person more iron supplements because you can cause hemochromatosis.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @02:42AM (3 children)
I didn't answer jack shit.
Iron level in blood is important? Did anyone argue otherwise?
(Score: 2, Flamebait) by RS3 on Monday July 20 2020, @04:27AM (2 children)
Your brain is a big infinite loop. Hard reset needed. Probably need more iron to the side of your head.
Your attitude makes you not worth responding to, but for anyone else's benefit,
The article is an alert. The point of the article is it turns out that blood iron levels are more important than was previously known.
Did you get it yet? Or still just want to troll?
There is no ideal level- everyone is different, and now we know even more about how important it might be for many people to be conscious of it, get tested if needed, etc.
I can't wait to see how you'll morph your trolling...
(Score: 3, Funny) by ikanreed on Monday July 20 2020, @02:07PM (1 child)
We call people with sincere, intransigent, and stupid opinions trolls because it's easier than dealing with the fact that they're probably the ones running the world.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday July 20 2020, @02:17PM
I'm using the literal definition of troll. Of course there are many definitions, but the gist is that AC isn't trying to understand or pose alternate points of view; he's just being obtuse, contrarian, and inflammatory.
I'd love to see the stats but I'd bet 1/2 of posts are AC.
I guess if you can't beat them, join them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @12:11PM (3 children)
Take this comment with even more skepticism than the rest of what you read on the internet. My wife was diagnosed with mild anemia so we put more iron-rich foods in our diet and she started taking a regular, non-prescription iron supplement. About two months in, her libido was better than it has been in twenty years. I did find medical articles saying that iron deficiency is sometimes linked to low libido. So if you or your spouse have that issue, it's probably worthwhile to get your iron checked and discuss it with a physician.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday July 20 2020, @01:59PM (2 children)
OK. But be careful, because there's no automatic way to get rid of excess iron. (Well, not for a man or older woman.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday July 20 2020, @02:21PM
Yes, exactly. My mom had low iron and I gave her iron supplements with doctors' knowledge and okay, but one of the times she was in the hospital they figured out that she was retaining too much. I'm not sure if they use the term "hemochromatosis" but that's why I posted what I did- the 2 extremes of the iron level. It's a thing that often gets ignored (iron levels).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 22 2020, @03:59PM
Thanks. We're getting her levels checked periodically, and she's not overdosing on the iron supplements or going berserk with iron-rich foods.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Monday July 20 2020, @07:08AM (1 child)
13.2-16.6 g/dL for men
11.6-15 g/dL for women
So now you know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @07:29AM
That's for hemoglobin. The actual amount of elemental iron would be smaller.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 20 2020, @12:08PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @09:30AM (1 child)
Just thinkin about all those times i've bitten a fork, i feel like ironman. I'll be bullet proof and be able to fly in no time!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2020, @09:48AM
You need to lick vibranium.