Increased Height with Iron

Increased Height in HFE Hemochromatosis

” the growth rate affects iron status, and iron demand tends to exceed supply in periods of rapid growth”

“We assessed height in a cohort of 176 patients with HFE hemochromatosis at the University Hospital Zurich”

“All patients had verified iron overload, defined as a serum ferritin level of more than 300 μg per liter or a transferrin saturation of more than 45%. Height in patients with hemochromatosis was compared with that in an age- and sex-matched Swiss reference population”

“Men with hemochromatosis (120 patients) were 4.3 cm taller, on average, than those in the reference population (458,322 persons)”

“The height was 178.2 cm in men with hemochromatosis, versus 173.9 cm in controls. The difference in height between women with hemochromatosis (56 patients) and those in the reference population (10,260 persons) was 3.3 cm. The height was 167.1 cm in women with hemochromatosis versus 163.8 cm in controls.”

“we did not find evidence for an association between the HFE C282Y mutation and so far identified genetic determinants of height.”<-So it was likely the iron that was the factor causing the increased height.

Iron was associated with FGF-23 which may have caused “pseudo-reactivation of the growth plates”.  Iron is inversely correlated with FGF23 and high FGF23 levels were associated with shorter stature.  However, FGF23 was also associated with pseudo-reactivation of growth plates.  Iron reduces LCN2 levels which may also reduce height.

The height difference due to iron is pretty big.  After aging lower iron concentrations may be beneficial to allow for higher FGF23.

4 thoughts on “Increased Height with Iron

  1. Tyler Post author

    Yes you take the vitamin Iron. Based on the evidence presented, I believe that iron will only increase height during the growth period. Definitely periods of heavy growth where there may be a shortage of iron.

    1. samkit

      Hello admin, i wanted to know about the progress in research about increasing height with stem cell. Please do reply sir.. i m following you from last 2 years .you people are doing good job.

  2. Johnson

    Could you define aging? Say Im 20 nearing 21, do I take iron or don’t take iron for pseudo activation of growth plates?

Comments are closed.