Tag Archives: Electron

Medicine, Men's Health, Opinion, Resources, Women's Health

DR. C’S MEDICINE CABINET: THE BENEFITS OF “IRON”

Leave a comment

Iron is the most common element, by weight, on earth, so it should come as no surprise that it has evolved to be an essential component in the mechanism that is life.

The ENERGY of the eukaryotic cell is dependent on the Iron in mitochondria, which are elaborate electron-transfer mechanisms. To quote Nobel Laureate Albert Szent Gyorgyi, “Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place of rest”.

Iron is essential, so it is possible to have too little of it. There is no physiologic pathway to get rid of it and so you can have too much iron in your body, which comprises a disease called Hemochromatosis. Excessive Iron can be TOXIC to the body, and produce damaging free radicals.

Deficiency of iron will produce ANEMIA. Regulation of incoming Iron is the body’s way of keeping excessive Iron out. It is absorbed only in the upper part of the small intestine, and a special protein called Hepcidin can block it from release into the circulation. It is carried through the blood by Transferrin and also Ferritin, which stores the iron that is not in the hemoglobin of RED BLOOD CELLS, the main storehouse of iron.

Blood loss is a common problem which leads to increased Iron requirement, This is reflected in the increase in RDA of Iron in Women during their menstruating years. Colonic Cancer, among other conditions, can also bleed and lead to the anemia of Iron deficiency. This is the reason for Doctors ordering a test for “occult”, or hidden, blood in the stools. My reason for taking Iron is a continuing loss of blood from the small intestine.

I have had multiple colonoscopies and Gastroenteroscopies to rule out cancer and other blood-losing conditions in the lower and upper intestinal tract. The small intestine is the “silent” area to gastroenterologists, and I cannot have the Capsule/camera examination because of my small bowel surgery.

I must take extra iron, and hope that this will be sufficient to keep me from developing anemia again. Green vegetables and red meat are more satisfactory sources, but insufficient for me. I worry a little about the recent finding that Heart Failure has been associated with Ferritin levels below 100 ng./ml.

I struggle to keep mine at 50 ng. by taking 2 tablets of feosol daily and dealIng with the subsequent constipation. An ANNUAL PHYSICAL and laboratory examination is important for the maintenance of health. Enough Iron and blood are important factors for vigorous Well-being. —

–Dr. C.

INFOGRAPHIC:

Opinion, Resources

DR. C’S MEDICINE CABINET: “OVERVIEW OF METABOLISM”

1 Comment

“Life is nothing but an electron looking for a place to rest”.

Albert Szent-Gyorgy

Overview of Metabolism – Seeing an Essence of Nanosystems in the Hum of a Vibrant City; the Skyscraper as Catalyst, and Thought as Electron

What did it take to bring the world to its’ knees? SARS-CoV2? We will never know, because we instituted DISTANCING to control the virus because the projected number of deaths were unacceptable.

The distancing and isolation did hold the number of deaths, still large, below projection. However, it DEVASTATED our Economy.

OUR WORLD is a  massive, cooperative, interdependent system, with hubs, factories, supply chains and a myriad of products. It is a COMPLEX SYSTEM.

I would like to use the world as an analogy, and compare it to another Complex System, the HUMAN BODY.

Our bodies are essentially a large pile of chemicals (mostly proteins) in a sack, our skin. These chemicals are constantly interacting with each other. If they grow to larger, more complex chemicals in a process we call anabolism, we take in more chemicals and energy by eating, and get bigger. If our chemicals get less numerous and complex in a process we call catabolism, we lose weight and get smaller.

Some of the proteins in our bodies are ENZYMES, and bring other proteins CLOSER TOGETHER, so that they can LINK TOGETHER  become more complex and PRODUCE things. Enzymes are a sine qua non of life. Without enzymes, life would slow so much as to be impossible. 

Let’s go back to our Society, Before Covid. 

Vast numbers of people are cooperating in close proximity, working together with machines, often supplied by other people far away, making things. This process takes place most efficiently in CITIES, where people are in closest proximity, doing things together.

Enter Covid. This interdependent process stops. What things that are produced are made to fight Covid. It is just like one of our cells infected by Covid: we have been HIJACKED  by the virus!

Lets’ GO BACK TO OUR CELLS. Our METABOLISM is like our teeming, cooperative CITIES, with SUPPLY CHAINS, factories and products. Our PROTEINS NEED PROXIMITY to function.

Some Proteins are at a critical HUB, and comprise a RATE-LIMITING step in the production line.

Many Vitamins and nutrients are COENZYMES, and act to ACCELERATE critical supply lines.

If the Hubs are OUT OF BALANCE and OVERACTIVE, many MEDICATIONS act to BLOCK THE ACTION of an enzyme to bring the system closer to balance.

Thus coordination, cooperation and careful monitoring to PREVENT A PROBLEM is superior to letting it break down and correcting the imbalance.

I hope that this Overview will be helpful. I will go through my MEDICINE CABINET to discuss a few of the 20,000 or so Medications approved by the FDA. I will also VIEW THE TEST RESULTS from my LABORATORY TESTS. NORMAL results show a SYSTEM IN BALANCE. Abnormal results show inefficiencies in the metabolism (supply chains, hubs), which need correction to restore balance.   

— Dr. C