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ATHENS, GREECE. Iron catalyzes the oxidation of lipids (fats) and can promote
heart attacks in animals. Its effects in humans are controversial; some studies
have linked high iron intakes and high body stores of iron to heart disease
while others have failed to find any correlation. Now a team of American and
Greek researchers report that a high intake of dietary iron may indeed increase
the risk of heart disease among older men and women. Their study involved 570
controls and 329 patients who had suffered a first heart attack or who had had a
first positive coronary arteriogram. The researchers found that men aged 60
years or older with a monthly dietary iron intake greater than 400 mg had five
times the risk of coronary heart disease than did men with an intake of 250 mg
per month or less. They calculate that the risk of coronary heart disease
increases by about 40 per cent for each extra 50 mg of iron consumed per month.
The results for women aged 60 years or older were even more startling. The
researchers estimate that these women increase their risk of heart disease by
more than 260 per cent for each monthly 50 mg increment of iron intake. The
researchers base their conclusions on the results of in-depth patient interviews
carried out by four specially trained research assistants. The patients were
asked to recall the average frequency of consumption of 110 common food items in
the year prior to the onset of their heart disease symptoms. The data was
analyzed statistically and adjusted for 14 sociodemographic, lifestyle, and
nutritional variables known to affect the risk of heart disease.
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