Article Sidebar
Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
Liver iron stores in different population groups in South Africa
Abstract
The hepatic non-haem iron concentrations of 1 143 subjects dying in Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town were determined. The effects of certain disease processes upon liver iron stores were confirmed, and data from subjects dying from such diseases were excluded. No significant differences were revealed between comparable groups from the 3 cities. In Whites and Bantu, the median values were higher in adult males than in postmenopausal females, and lowest in premenopausal females, reflecting the greater iron requirements imposed by menstruation and pregnancy. The figures in the Bantu were significantly higher than those in the corresponding members of each of the other population groups. In addition, suggestive evidence was obtained that a significant proportion of Coloured males have iron stores that are lower than normal. In contrast to the situation in adults, significantly lower concentrations were found in Bantu children than in White children. The probable explanation for these observations is that the Bantu children are not exposed to the majorsource of superfluous dietary iron, namely the homebrewed beers.
