Survival of the Sickest

With the help of insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, glucose is stored in your liver, muscles, and fat cells (think of them as your own internal OPEC) waiting to be converted to fuel as necessary.

to fight infection by reducing the amount of iron available to feed an invader, providing an assist to the body’s natural tendency to hide iron when it recognizes an infection.

doctor named John Murray was working with his wife in a Somali refugee camp when he noticed that many of the nomads, despite pervasive anemia and repeated exposure to a range of virulent pathogens, including malaria, tuberculosis, and brucellosis, were free of visible infection.

It’s not just for hemochromatosis, either—doctors and researchers are examining phlebotomy as an aid in combating heart disease, high blood pressure, and pulmonary edema.

Canadian physiologist named Norman Kasting discovered that bleeding animals induces the release of the hormone vasopressin; this reduces their fevers and spurs their immune system into higher gear.

Ultimately, the ability to access iron within our macrophages is what makes some intracellular infections deadly and others benign.

cells that hemochromatosis is stingy with when it comes to iron are a type of white blood cell called macrophages. Macrophages are the police wagons of the immune system. They circle our systems looking for trouble; when they find it, they surround it, try to subdue or kill it, and bring it back to the station in our lymph nodes.

? It turns out that people who have hemochromatosis have a form of iron locking going on as a permanent condition.

Mother’s milk contains lactoferrin—a chelating protein that binds with iron and prevents bacteria from feeding on it.

People used to cover wounds with egg-white-soaked straw to protect them from infection. It turns out that wasn’t such a bad idea—preventing infection is what egg whites are made for.