Iron, classified as an essential mineral, is vital to sustaining life, but can also be toxic at high levels. Your body naturally regulates the amount of iron in your blood, allowing you to absorb more iron when needed and less when not needed. Conditions that interfere with internal regulation, or an overdose in iron supplements, increase your risk for adverse effects caused by high iron levels in the blood.
Genetic Conditions
The term hereditary hemochromatosis describes a group of genetic conditions that affect the breakdown and use of iron and lead to an iron overload. When you have high iron levels in the blood, the iron accumulates in the organs including the liver. The iron can damage the organs, causing serious conditions like cirrhosis of the liver, characterized by the buildup of scar tissue that interfere with normal liver function, diabetes, heart muscle damage and joint problems. Although iron-deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia -- a condition of a low number of functioning red blood cells -- anemia can occur due to a genetic condition. In this case, your body tries to produce more red blood cells so it absorbs more iron. The iron remains in the blood causing an iron overload.
Iron Poisoning
The Linus Pauling Institute reports that an accidental overdose of iron supplements is the single largest cause of poisoning fatalities in children under the age of 6. Symptoms of acute iron toxicity, which include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, black stools, weakness, rapid pulse, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing and coma, can occur at doses of 20 to 60 mg/kg of body weight. Although doctors consider a dose of 200 to 250 mg/kg of body weight the lethal dose, people have died at doses less than this.
Heart Disease
High levels of iron in your blood increases the risk of damage to the cells caused by free radicals -- molecules formed as byproducts of normal reactions involving oxygen. Free radicals can damage the cells lining the blood vessels, increase the risk for atherosclerosis, promote the buildup of plaque and restrict the flow of blood that can lead to heart disease. The National Institute of Health and the Linus Pauling Institute both report that research studies focused on the effect of high iron levels on heart disease produce conflicting results. In the absence of a solid link, you should avoid excess iron intake.
Diabetes
Patients who suffer from diabetes or metabolic syndrome, characterized by high blood glucose levels due to a resistance to insulin, show higher than normal levels of iron in their blood. In addition, patients with hereditary hemochromatosis have an increased risk for developing diabetes. Clinical studies need to be conducted to determine the connection between high levels of iron and the risk for diabetes and to determine whether lowering your iron level can help to prevent diabetes, according to the Linus Pauling Institute.
