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Iron Excretion and Metabolism in Man

Abstract

UNTIL 1937 it was generally considered that iron was absorbed with some measure of freedom in the duodenum and upper parts of the small intestine, and that any taken up in excess of the immediate requirements of the body was excreted into the large intestine. In that year we pointed out that if one neglected the traces of iron always present in the urine and in abraded cells there was no convincing evidence that iron was ever excreted by any of the organs of the body, and that most of the work which had been done tended to show that iron once absorbed remained inside the body1. In the years which followed we brought forward experimental evidence to support this theory2,3,4 which must now be considered also to be well supported by other people's data5,6,7. Within the last six months, however, we have had the opportunity of putting the theory to a searching test, and the results have been so convincing that we feel justified in placing them on record.

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References

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MCCANCE, R., WIDDOWSON, E. Iron Excretion and Metabolism in Man. Nature 152, 326–327 (1943). https://doi.org/10.1038/152326b0

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