Excess Iron in Body May Increase Risk of Colon Cancer

Although iron deficiency can be a problem for the elderly, a study of older men and women revealed that three times as many of them in fact retained excess iron in their bodies, which the researcher noted can increase their risk for several diseases, including colon cancer.

Richard J. Wood of Tufts University, reporting in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on his study of a group of men and women in Massachusetts aged 67 to 96 years, said elderly men were twice as likely as women to have too much iron.

Moreover, he found that 16 percent of the elderly people who had absorbed too much iron were taking a supplement containing iron.

All of the participants ate a typical Western diet, the apparent source of excess iron for those with this condition. To corroborate the health risk of excess iron in the diet, Wood refers to a study, to be published this spring, written by Richard L. Nelson, M.D. Professor of Surgery at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Dr. Nelson reviewed 33 studies from 26 publications to support his conclusion that "the benefit of iron supplementation needs to be measured against the long term risks of increased iron exposure, one of which may be increased risk of colorectal cancer."

Other sources: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition