An international study using genetic data of more than a million people suggests that maintaining healthy levels of iron in the blood could be key to ageing better and living longer. Results show too much iron in your blood appeared to be linked to an increase risk of dying earlier.
Paul Timmers with the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom says that they are excited by these findings as they suggest that high levels of iron in the blood reduces our healthy years of life and keeping these levels in check could prevent age related damage.
Timmers said that the findings on iron metabolism might also start tot explain why very high levels of iron rich red meat in the diet has been linked to age related conditions such as heart disease.
Iron overload or our bodies not being able to break it down properly can have an influence on how long we’re likely to live, as well as how healthy we’re likely to be in our later years.
Scientists hope that with this study, further down the line we could see the development of drugs designed to lower levels of iron in the blood which could potentially add extra years to our lives.