Main description:

* Discusses the potential risks of moderately elevated iron levels* Examines historical and present-day findings about iron* Focuses on the three principles under which the re-examination of the safety of high iron levels is justified* Features new hypotheses on the molecular basis of aging, autoimmune disease, reperfusion injury, and neurodegenerative disease

Contents:

1. Iron, Aging, and Human Disease: Historical Background and New Hypotheses 2. Chemistry and Molecular Biology of Iron and Iron-Binding Proteins: Structure and Molecular Biology of Iron-Binding Proteins and the Regulation of 'Free' Iron Pools 3. Genetic Control of the Genes for Iron Storage and Transport: Links with the Acute Phase Response 4. Iron Accumulation and METABOLISM in Humans: Iron Balance in Western Societies as Measured by Serum Ferritin 5. Hereditary Hemochromatosis and Other Diseases Associated with Iron Overload 6. Iron and the Immune System 7. Cellular Acquisition of Iron and the Iron withholding Defense Against Microbial and Neoplastic Invasion 8. Iron and Oxidative Stress: Iron and Damage to Biomolecules 9. Lipofuscin, Lysosomes, and Iron 10. Roles for Iron in Cardiovascular Diseases: Role of Iron in the Oxidative Modification of Low Density Lipoprotein 11. Iron and Myocardial Reperfusion Injury 12. Stored Iron as a Risk Factor for Ischemic Heart Disease 13. Iron and Stroke 14. Roles for Iron in Other Common Diseases: Iron and Cancer 15. Brain Iron and Nigra-Striatal Dopamine Neurons in Parkinson's Disease 16. Proteins of Iron Regulation in Alzheimer's Disease 17. Iron-Promoted Oxidative Damage in Rheumatic Diseases 18. Iron and Ethanol-Induced Tissue Damage 19. Iron Metabolism and Oxygen Radical Injury in Premature Infants 20. Implications for Prevention and Therapy: Preventive Measures for the Maintenance of Low But Adequate Iron Stores 21. Therapeutic Strategies to Inhibit Iron-Catalyzed Tissue Damage