What is excess iron?
Iron is an essential element to all living organisms, as it is an important aspect of health and disease. Iron is essential to red blood cells since they house most of the body’s iron content. Iron is normally bound by different proteins which prevent it from reacting destructively with other cells in the body. However, excess iron can overload these proteins, leading to free iron circulating and accumulating in the body due to the lack of an active mechanism to excrete iron. Iron deposits, especially in the heart, liver, and the endocrine system, can cause cell death, tissue damage, and reduced life expectancy. Ferritin, one iron-storage protein, is measured as an indicator of iron levels because it correlates to the body’s regulation of the metal. Ferritin levels normally range from 12 to 300 ng/mL in healthy adult males and 12 to 150 ng/mL in females, but they increase dramatically when too much iron is present in the body. Symptoms of excess iron are often non-specific, such as abd
