Why You Need to Check for Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload
Peter Whittington
Hemochromatosis gets its name from "hemo" for blood and "chroma" for colour, referring to the characteristic bronze skin tone caused by iron overload. It is a genetic disease that causes the body to absorb and store too much iron. Skin tone is not a reliable indicator for hemochromatosis as many sufferers do not exhibit the bronze colouration.
The disease causes excess iron storage in several organs of the body including the liver, heart, skin, pancreas, endocrine glands, joints, and intestinal lining. This iron build-up can lead to serious complications. Hemochromatosis is associated with reduced life span, hepatic cirrhosis, primary liver cancer, diabetes mellitus, other endocrinopathy, arthropathy and cardiomyopathy.
5% of cirrhosis cases are estimated to be caused by hereditary hemochromatosis. 20% of patients who have cirrhosis due to hereditary hemochromatosis have a chance of developing diabetes. Cirrhosis can also cause a number of complications that can ultimately lead to liver failure, death or an increased risk of developing liver cancer. Liver disease is often worse in hemochromatosis sufferers who also have chronic hepatitis or are alcoholics.
Because hemochromatosis is considered rare, doctors may not think to test for it so it is often undiagnosed and untreated. If it is detected early, hemochromatosis is manageable. However, by the time symptoms become evident, severe organ damage will have occurred. As symptoms develop only after tissue injury, to diagnosis hemochromatosis before symptoms develop.
Patients with early hemochromatosis have no symptoms and are unaware of their condition. Many people have no symptoms when they are diagnosed. The initial symptoms can be diverse, vague and mimic the symptoms of many other diseases.
Symptoms are often exhibited by men between the ages of 30 and 50 and in women over 50, but some patients may develop problems as early as 20. When the body has stored 20 grams or more of iron, symptoms of hemochromatosis become evident. This may take up 4 to 6 decades. As females lose iron through menstrual blood loss, they develop organ damage from iron accumulation 15 to 20 years later than men on average.
Iron build-up is often present and silently causing problems in men, women, adolescents and in rare cases children long before symptoms occur. Therefore, hereditary hemochromatosis should not be considered a disease only of older people or men.
There are two forms of the disease that are not caused by an HFE defect, juvenile hemochromatosis and neonatal hemochromatosis. Adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 30 can suffer from the juvenile form. It leads to severe iron overload and liver and heart disease. The neonatal form causes rapid iron build-up in an infant's liver which can lead to death.
Treatment for hereditary hemochromatosis is by removing blood (phlebotomy) from the patient in order to lower the level of iron. Initially, there is a de-ironing phase, where the patients frequently have phlebotomy until the iron stores are normalised. During this initial stage, up to half a litre of blood may be removed from the body each week. After normalisation, treatment may only be several times a year. Treatment, if begun early enough, will reverse most if not all of the symptoms and return the patient to a normal life span. Treatment is life-long.
With 1 in 10 of the population being a carrier, and 1 in every 200 to 300 being a sufferer, a significant percentage of the population is at risk from hemochromatosis. This worldwide genetic disorder has a high incidence in populations of Northern European origins. It is important that you get tested if you have a family history of the disease. Fortunately with increased awareness this is now happening. It is important to diagnose hemochromatosis early as it can be treated easily.
About the Author:
Hemochromatosis -Too much iron is damaging the health of many. Nearly everybody, including doctors, are unaware of this condition. For more Iron Overload Information, visit Dr Chris Whittington's site.
|
