Reply To: Cancer again – Is this the End, or just the beginning?

[Zack-Vegas]

I’d disagree with the AI, there is nothing in the lab results to suggest anemia of any kind, and certainly not iron deficiency.

First, all the iron markers are in range.  They are on the low side, but based on what I read from the Weinberg book and other iron researchers, that is usually beneficial.  Ferritin is about what I personally target (I’ve actually tested much lower than that, and felt great).

Hemoglobin is a bit out of the listed range, but I remember when I first started donating blood over ten years ago, the low end cutoff was 12.0, for both men and women.  It was fairly recently that they upped the cutoff for males to 13.0.  This range is even higher than that. The Red Cross would allow you to donate blood with the hemoglobin level of 13.4, so even though that’s below the listed range, it still isn’t close to anemia territory.  That usually becomes a concern around 11.0, with 10.0 and under being fairly serious.

For an average American male, these iron numbers are a lot lower than you would expect.  It’s much closer to teenage iron levels.  If you have been doing a lot of blood tests, that could be a factor.  Blood testing usually takes 25-50 ml of blood per test tube.  When donating, 450 ml is taken.  So, if you have been doing a lot of blood tests, those small amounts can add up.  Also, a low iron diet can also lead to lower iron numbers.  Milk and eggs are especially good at lowering body iron stores, as they not only are low in iron, but also contain lactoferrin and (in milk) calcium, which also lower iron levels.  Aspirin can also lower iron levels.

So, for example, if you did a couple series of blood tests, eat little red meat, eat a lot of eggs and dairy, and take regular aspirin, all these things could have dramatically lowered iron levels.  But still, to levels that are in range and near deficiency, which should be good at slowing or possibly reversing cancer growth.

The high B12 levels are weird.  I would think that would either be from a supplement or lab error, don’t think that would have been just from eating eggs regularly.  Maybe regular eggs plus weekly liver?  I would also think this would have led to a higher hemoglobin level, although if you have been losing blood (through lots of blood testing or other procedures), that would make more sense.  In my personal experience, a B complex or iron free multi with the good forms of B12 and folate really helps to up hemoglobin levels.  As does Vitamin A.  And supplemental testosterone can REALLY increase levels.