The link to this article's full text can be found at
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iuatld/ijtld/2005/00000009/00000001/art00002.
Reading the text you can read this:

"A fine balance between iron overload and iron deficiency therefore needs to
be maintained. Primary causes of haemochromatosis include genetic
polymorphisms in genes encoding the hereditary haemachromatosis protein
(HFE), haptoglobin (Hp) or b2-microglobulin (b2m),6 while repeated
transfusions and dietary overload, as found in parts of Africa,7"

"dietary overload, as found in parts of Africa"... if one follows that
reference number 7, you come to the article "African iron overload", which's
abstract can be found at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1
2382201&dopt=Abstract...

"Iron overload is common in rural sub-Saharan African populations that have
the custom of drinking a traditional fermented beverage with high iron
content. As with both excessive alcohol exposure and HFE hemochromatosis,
hepatic portal fibrosis and micronodular cirrhosis are prominent sequelae of
African iron overload. Two observations are therefore important in
characterizing iron overload in Africa. First, the hepatic iron
concentrations associated with African iron overload often far exceed those
seen in alcoholic liver disease and histologic changes of alcohol effect are
almost always absent. Second, the pattern of iron accumulation in African
dietary iron is prominent in both macrophages and hepatic parenchymal cells;
this pattern is in contrast to HFE homochromatosis, which is marked by
predominantly parenchymal iron-loading. For a long time, it was thought that
African iron overload was purely dietary in nature, that increased iron and
alcohol in the diet could fully explain markedly elevated tissue iron levels
sometimes seen with this condition. Recent studies of pedigrees suggest
that, in addition to high dietary iron content, a genetic defect may also be
implicated in iron overload in Africans. These studies indicate that the
possible defect is different from mutations in the HFE gene frequently found
in Caucasians with iron overload, but the putative gene has not been
identified. Recent studies also indicate that non-HFE iron overload occurs
in African-Americans, but the prevalence and possible genetic basis is yet
to be determined."

or:
http://www.irondisorders.org/Disorders/Siderosis.asp on African iron
overload (AIO):
"Recent work has suggested that a genetic defect in iron regulation,
together with high dietary iron consumption may be responsible for AIO. A
defect in the iron transporter ferroportin, responsible for iron release
from the gut and reticuloendothelial cells, is thought to be a possible
cause. A mutation in the ferroportin 1 gene has been found to be common in
populations of West and Southern African origin and is associated with a
tendency to higher serum ferritin levels. Other mutations of this gene are
associated with iron overload with a similar tissue distribution to that
seen in AIO."

So we have a clearly relativized situation... not only is this phenomenon
limited to" rural sub-Saharan African populations", also there is evidence
of a genetic defect, different from defects in Caucasians, is the cause of
this.

Anja

The problem with most of your posts is that you don't understand so much
about what it says.  The conclusions you want to force from them also
demands one allow the assumptions about bible codes, meat consumption,
and the cause of disease.  These two factors together make your
conclusions and assertions either irrelevant or meaningless.

In this one for example, the "dietary habits" said to be the source of
the iron in africa is not eating meat, which is eaten at very low levels
if at all because of poverty, but because a kind of corn beer is made
using cast iron pots.  The cooking process causes iron to be leeched
from the pot and enters the gut where it overwhelms the body's iron
intake controls.

Iron doesn't cause hiv and hiv has nothing to do with meat consumption
and your lack of knowledge about the real source of the iron makes your
forced conclusions both irrelevant and meaningless.  Hiv is spreading
the fastest in places where meat consumption is little or none at all,
such as in india and parts of south east asia and africa.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Iron balance and iron-regulatory system alterations correlate with
HIV and TB disease progression
Virus Weekly via NewsEdge Corporation :.
2006 JUL 25 - (NewsRx.com) -- Iron balance and iron-regulatory system
alterations correlate with the progression of HIV and tuberculosis
disease.

According to a recent review from England, "There are many lines of
evidence illustrating that iron plays a pivotal role in modulating the
battle for survival between mammalian hosts and their pathogens.  Each
displays considerable genetic investment in a wide range of mechanisms
for acquiring and maintaining iron.

"These competitive mechanisms are highly complex, existing within an
interacting matrix of absorption, transport, storage and detoxification
systems, each of which are iron-responsive and thus able to adapt to
the different phases of infection.".

"Considerable genetic polymorphism in some of these systems, with
signals of geographic selection in the hosts, and niche selection in
the pathogens, indicates that they are critical for species survival,"
J.M.  McDermid and colleagues at the University London, London School
of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine wrote.

"In this review," said the authors, "we briefly summarize the role of
iron in host immune function before reviewing the available evidence
that iron modulates susceptibility and disease outcomes in HIV and TB
(tuberculosis).

"We then examine the putative role of iron-related host genes by
focusing on two candidate genes, haptoglobin and NRAMPI, for which
there are common polymorphic variants in humans with strong evidence of
functionally distinct biochemical phenotypes that would be predicted to
influence the course of HIV and TB infections.".

"Finally," McDermid continued, "we examine the limited evidence so far
available that nutrient-gene interactions are likely to influence the
way in which gene variants can protect against infection.".

Scientists concluded that there "a wealth of evidence associating
alterations in iron balance and in iron-regulatory systems with disease
progression, but that many issues related to the direction of
causality, mechanisms of action and sensitivity to pharmacological
intervention remain to be elucidated.

"Since iron is probably the most widely prescribed compound throughout
the world, used in both preventative and treatment regimens, a deeper
understanding of the host-pathogen interactions relating to iron
constitutes an important area for both basic and clinical research.".

McDermid and colleagues published the results of their research in
Clinical Science (Iron and infection: effects of host iron status and
the iron-regulatory genes haptoglobin and NRAMPI (SLCIIAI) on
host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis and HIV.  Clin Sci (Lond),
2006;110(5):503-524).

For additional information, contact A.M.  Prentice, University of
London London School Hyg & Trop Med, Medical Research Council,
International Nutrition Group, Keppel St., London WC1E 7HT, England.

The publisher of the journal Clinical Science can be contacted at:
Portland Press Ltd., Third Floor, Eagle House, 16 Procter Street,
London WC1V 6 Nx, England.

Keywords: London, England, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Iron Regulatory
Genes, Host Immune Function, Iron Balance.

This article was prepared by Virus Weekly editors from staff and other
reports.  Copyright 2006, Virus Weekly via NewsRx.com.

<<Virus Weekly -- 07/26/06>>.

Who loves ya.
Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com

Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3

DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk