Haemochromatosis

What is it?

We hear a lot about eating foods rich in iron to avoid anaemia, but too much iron is not good for us either. One condition where the body accumulates too much iron is haemochromatosis. It runs in families and seems to affect people with a Celtic background, from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

What are the symptoms?

They don’t usually appear till the ages of 30 and include weight loss, weakness, joint pain, erectile dysfunction, irregular or absent periods and feeling tired all the time. Check with your doctor if you have a parent or sibling with haemochromatosis. The least you’ll need is a heart assessment because iron can be deposited in heart muscle and therefore cause heart failure.

What are the causes?

A faulty gene that influences how the body absorbs iron from food is the cause. If both of your parents have this faulty gene and you inherit one copy from each of them, you’re at risk of developing the condition. If you only inherit one copy, you won’t get haemochromatosis but there’s a chance you could pass the faulty gene to your children.

What’s the treatment?

We don’t have a cure for haemochromatosis, but you can have treatments that cut the amount of iron in the body.

Bloodletting to remove some of your blood, starting weekly.

Intravenous chemicals called chelating agents grab on to iron and remove it from your body. Diet

There’s no special diet but avoid any foods such as iron-fortified breakfast cereals. And steer clear of too much alcohol.

Phlebotomy Chelation therapy What are the complications?

Excess iron can cause liver problems, diabetes, arthritis and heart failure.