Iron and Diabetes Revisited

I ron is the most abundant transitionalmetal in the body. It has long beenrecognized that iron overload can in-crease the risk of diabetes, particularly in iron-overload states such as hemochro-matosis and recurrent transfusions in diseases like thalassemia. Furthermore, a large body of epidemiological evidence suggests that an increase in dietary iron (as heme, mainly from meat and meat products) is associated with an increased risk of diabetes (1). In contrast, iron de-ficiency (over time one of the most com-mon nutritional deficiencies in the world) may lower the risk of diabetes. Indeed, it has been suggested that recurrent phle-botomy may protect against diabetes (2)