What an irony!

 
Published: Monday 15 April 1996

Scientists warn that taking iron indiscriminately can be toxic for the body. In fact, it can make the heart, liver and pancreas more vulnerable to disease. Iron tablets may increase stamina in people who have iron- deficiency anemia, it won't give extra pep if there is no such complaint, warns Jay Siwak of the Fort Lincoln Family Medicine Centre and Providence Hospital in north-east Washington in the US. Instead, excess iron level in the body can damage different organs, sometimes irreversibly. He explains that the human body is very efficient in storing iron, but once it has been absorbed there is no way to get rid of it.

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