メディエイゴ

Lowering the body's excess(1) iron stores(2)--in this case, by drawing blood(3)--may improve outcomes(4) for people with symptomatic(5) but stable peripheral arterial disease(6) (PAD), but only if iron reduction begins at a relatively young age. Those are the findings of a six-year Veterans Affairs(7) clinical trial reported in the Feb. 14 Journal of the American Medical Association.

"The beauty(8) of our study was that we could see the graded(9) effect by age. We therefore confirmed the past negative(10) epidemiology(11) that didn't take age into consideration(12), but we also confirmed the positive(13) studies showing an effect of iron on disease risk(14). The secret is the age effect(15)," said lead author Leo R. Zacharski, MD, a Dartmouth Medical School professor of medicine at the White River Junction (VT) VA Medical Center.

"While our study did not show that reducing iron led to(16) across-the-board(17) decreases in overall mortality(18), or combined death plus non-fatal(19) myocardial infarction(20) and stroke(21), it did support the theory that vascular health(22) might be preserved(23) into later life(24) by maintaining low levels of iron over time(25), " added Zacharski, a member of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.

Excess iron in the blood may promote free-radical damage(26) to arteries(27), particularly in early stages of(28) arteriosclerosis(29), a major risk factor(30) for heart attack(31) and stroke.