Hemochromatosis and Autoimmune Conditions

[hiker]

Thanks to everyone for the comments regarding cookware. Yes, decanting regularly seems like the main thing to do to keep the iron levels at check.

I've been donating blood more or less regularly for the last couple of years, recently every 2-3 months. I tried to have the serum ferritin tested over a year ago, but the local lab said they only do plasma ferritin. I had that tested, and the result was 52 (not sure if it correlates directly with serum ferritin). I will have serum ferritin (and the other markers) tested at an appropriate lab soon, to know the current levels.

 

[Zadius Sky]

I'm also wondering if there might be some kind of blood type/genotype connection worth exploring?

A: You should investigate blood type diet differentials, there is validity there.

Q: […] (A) Well, what about this book? I have the idea that the author just invented stuff out of his head. Am I right?
A: Not really, but the RH factor hones it in better.

I just found out my blood type (on my Red Cross account, which is A+, which also told me to donate next time in mid-June; I still haven't got my donor card yet), and I was wondering about the iron-blood type connection (I can't seem to find any studies that focused on this). Lately, I've been reading upon the differences between the blood types and noticing each type's susceptibilities to certain diseases. For example, several sources said that people with Type B blood were more likely to die from plague (which is why there were more deaths of Type B during the Black Death) than other blood groups.

This has brought me to a thinking that since viruses and bacterias love iron and spread faster with that, the Type B people dies quicker while the other blood types would still be fighting or survive better (since Type B individuals cannot make antibodies against Type B surface of cells). Would this means that Type B would need a constant low iron level in order to survive the plague? Would the Rh factor makes it any difference here?

While thinking about this, I was reminded of this bit from the last session:

Q: (Perceval) So it could be a hereditary thing that was provoked in the past when there was plague.

A: It can also arise spontaneously.

The "spontaneously" comment has brought me to think of "comet" as a spontaneous thing since there can be iron in comets and there could be a high concentration of iron in areas wherever an overhead cometary explosion occurs. These irons from the skies can get into our water, etc. (I don't know about "breathing in" irons, though), which could lead to a greater chance of contracted viruses (both viruses and iron from space) and results in more deaths, especially in the upcoming days. And, each blood type would react differently?

I don't know if any of the above makes any sense, as I'm just thinking out loud here in regards to this connection.

 

[Laura]

Could avoiding dietary iron worsen an anemia condition while doing little to help iron loading?

If you have anemia, you need B vitamins. B12, B6 and B3.

 

[Scottie]

Given that people on Paleo and Keto diets seem to have generally higher iron levels, I'm hypothesizing that in addition to healing leaky gut and thereby increasing iron absorption, the carbs that do have inositol (that will naturally de-iron you) are now missing from these diets.

Anyway, I ordered some and I'm going to try maybe a 1 or 2-week run at 4g per day (halfway between "maintenance dose" and "cancer curing dose"), and then get my blood tested again. Since my ferritin is not uber-high (especially after my half-donation 2 days ago), and my SI is actually on the low end, I figure it might be a good test to see if it can work as a far more accessible and simple "iron maintenance routine" at least. Only one way to find out...

Well, the IP6 came, and I did a 5-day run at 4g per day (4 pills in the morning on empty stomach, 4 pills mid-afternoon).

Then I got my blood tested again.

After downing 40 pills, my saturation went from 21% to 25%, and my ferritin dropped from 192 to 145.

Assuming my half-blood donation was 15 ng/mL reduction, and the 3-day EDTA run just prior to that removed another 15 (???), that would mean that the IP6/inositol reduced it by 17. Of course, these numbers are iffy, but who knows.

I will note than on days 3 and 4, I was pretty bonkers - irritable and cranky and that sort of thing, which normally happens when I'm detoxing heavy metals. Sooo, the IP6/inositol does seem to work, but I'm not so sure it's an ideal solution.

Also, both of my blood tests were done after breakfast... the first time because I didn't know any better, and the second time because I didn't want to skew the results just in case.

I'm thinking I'm gonna do further rounds of EDTA, because it's far fewer pills to down.

 

[nicklebleu]

Just got my results, or some of them as the serum iron reading appearently was botched in transport. Ferritin was 92, and Transferrin 28. Should I get the test redone for the serum iron, or can I rest on the seemingly safe remainder of the reading and do an occasional donation?

I would probably do one or two donations and then retest ...

 

[shijing]

I finally got my blood iron test back yesterday, and these are the results:

Results Range
Iron 75 40-190 ug/dL
TIBC 271 250-400 ug/dL
UIBC 196
% saturation 28 15-50 %
ferritin 205 18-370 ng/mL
transferrin 235 188-341 mg/dL

sedimentation rate 3 0-15 mm/hr

I'm looking at the information posted earlier in this thread and trying to figure this out (I'm still waiting for The Iron Elephant, so I haven't been able to read it yet). I think that my iron, % saturation, and ferritin levels look OK, but that my TIBC and transferrin levels might indicate some overload -- if someone with more experience looking at these numbers thinks differently, though, I'm happy to be corrected.

I don't know if it could be related or not, but my doctor said that the one thing that caught his attention was my low sedimentation rate. He thinks that my blood might be too thick, which can be caused by a couple of different things, and he asked me to do a different test to look into this more. I've been having angina-like symptoms the past couple of weeks which may be related -- he suggested that I start adding some cayenne pepper to my food every day because it's a natural blood thinner. Depending on the cause, I also read that one way to alleviate blood that is too viscous is through phlebotomy, so that might be another reason to give blood.

edit: added UIBC

 

[Gaby]

I don't know if it could be related or not, but my doctor said that the one thing that caught his attention was my low sedimentation rate. He thinks that my blood might be too thick, which can be caused by a couple of different things, and he asked me to do a different test to look into this more.

That is a strange comment. Maybe he is not used to it? Sedimentation rate is a marker of inflammation. What other test is he asking for? You are in range after all. But hey, maybe the other tests he ordered will be useful (?).

You do have ferritin levels higher than 150...

http://www.americanhs.org/testing.htm

Warning: The doctors on the Board of Directors of The American Hemochromatosis Society state that transferrin saturation percentage greater than 40% and serum ferritin greater than 150ng/mL could indicate clinical iron overload/iron storage in the body and treatment with phlebotomy (bloodletting) should be considered regardless of DNA test results.

Yeah, donating blood will be a good idea. And doing some chelation is worth considering. You will chelate some heavy metals too, which is not a bad idea.

 

[shijing]

That is a strange comment. Maybe he is not used to it? Sedimentation rate is a marker of inflammation. What other test is he asking for? You are in range after all. But hey, maybe the other tests he ordered will be useful (?).

He's an integrative medicine specialist with training in both standard medicine and homeopathy, so he might be looking at this from a somewhat different perspective than regular allopaths. I'm not sure what the name of the test is that he's hoping to do next week, but when I find out I can report it here. He did say that doctors don't usually look at sedimentation rate, but that it can be useful -- my current understanding is that high sedimentation rate can be indicative of things like inflammation, autoimmune disease, and cancer, but low sedimentation rate can indicate high blood viscosity, which can result from various things including an overabundance of red (polycythemia) or white (leukocytosis) blood cells, fat in the blood, or low temperature. For reference, my white and red blood cell counts were the following:

Results Range
WBC 5.2 4.0-11.0 k/mm3
RBC 5.23 4.30-6.00

Since high viscosity can impair oxygen transportation, it seems consistent with the angina-like symptoms I've been experiencing recently, so I'm curious to find out more about this.

You do have ferritin levels higher than 150 [...] Yeah, donating blood will be a good idea. And doing some chelation is worth considering. You will chelate some heavy metals too, which is not a bad idea.

Thanks for listing that ferritin marker, and it does look like I need to start donating. I've already found a place in my part of town to do it at; I need to wait until I do the next round of tests, and then I'll make my first appointment and plan on doing it regularly after that.

 

[LQB]

I don't know if it could be related or not, but my doctor said that the one thing that caught his attention was my low sedimentation rate. He thinks that my blood might be too thick, which can be caused by a couple of different things, and he asked me to do a different test to look into this more. I've been having angina-like symptoms the past couple of weeks which may be related -- he suggested that I start adding some cayenne pepper to my food every day because it's a natural blood thinner. Depending on the cause, I also read that one way to alleviate blood that is too viscous is through phlebotomy, so that might be another reason to give blood.

Shijing, if you do want to try thinning your blood safely, I would highly recommend nattokinase/serrapeptase enzymes - they will also help with any fibrin problems related to inflammation. A highly regarded blend is Serracor-NK by AST Enzymes (ASTenzymes.com). I've used this brand for years.

 

[Laura]

Vitamin E is a blood thinner. Surprised that an integrative med type would suggest cayenne, a nightshade. Evil stuff.

 

[shijing]

Shijing, if you do want to try thinning your blood safely, I would highly recommend nattokinase/serrapeptase enzymes - they will also help with any fibrin problems related to inflammation. A highly regarded blend is Serracor-NK by AST Enzymes (ASTenzymes.com). I've used this brand for years.

Thanks LQB -- I'm looking into it right now.

Vitamin E is a blood thinner. Surprised that an integrative med type would suggest cayenne, a nightshade. Evil stuff.

I was too, and I asked about it -- my impression is that he felt it was a stopgap until we had a better idea of what was going on, but vitamin E is certainly preferable if it does the same thing, so I'm going to give that a try -- thanks for this recommendation too!

 

[LQB]

After one blood decanting and about a week's worth of EDTA ( about 1.5 gm twice a day) tests showed:

Ferritin 38 (26-388) (81 measured March 11)
Iron 130 (65-175)
TIBC 295 (250-450)
%Sat 44 (11-46)

So it looks like Ferritin was reduced by 43.

 

[Galaxia2002]

I was thinking that vit C bowel tolerance could be a marker of the levels of iron in the body because this iron excess creates reactive oxygen species, so a person with high iron levels "should" have a oxidant balance in the body that would need more antioxidants to compensate. I would like to know if you note a parallel between vit C bowel tolerance and any parameter used to measure iron. Of course that would be if there is no some inflammation of infection at the moment, just in a normal day. In my case this tolerance seems to be around 6-8 g/day.
my values:
Hemoglobin: 14,5
Heritrocite: 40,9
TIBC: 156 range (155 - 300)
% Iron saturation : 65,4 % (0 -20)
Serum Iron 102,0 (35 -140)
Ferritin 158

 

[anart]

I was thinking that vit C bowel tolerance could be a marker of the levels of iron in the body because this iron excess creates reactive oxygen species, so a person with high iron levels "should" have a oxidant balance in the body that would need more antioxidants to compensate. I would like to know if you note a parallel between vit C bowel tolerance and any parameter used to measure iron. Of course that would be if there is no some inflammation of infection at the moment, just in a normal day.

I actually had a similar thought since my vitamin C tolerance is very high - and my TS level is 46% with ferritin level of 197. Not sure, though...

 

[nicklebleu]

Another way to thin the blood is "earthing". That is walking barefeet on (if possible) wet ground - best is walking along the beach. The mechanism is that the body absorbs negative charge which in turn charges red blood cells negatively as well, so that they repulse themselves. So barefeet it is, preferrably on wet ground, concrete works, but not very well, wood, plastic etc doesn't ...

Apparently it works as good as pharmacological blood thinning ...

There's an article from Dr. Mercola describing this method here: _http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/29/james-oschman-on-earthing.aspx