Iron brew really is a vital part of our daily diet. Isn’t that ironic?

It sounds like the title of a classic ’80s rock album, but it’s true to say that we all need some metal.

Our bodies need it to make something called haemoglobin, a substance in our red blood cells that carries vital oxygen round the body.

For this we need iron, which we get from things like red meat, lentils, baked potatoes, spinach, and so on.

Some folk don’t get enough iron, which can cause problems like tiredness. This is why some foods are fortified with iron, like certain breakfast cereals.

But occasionally people have quite the opposite problem – they absorb and store too much.

Iron overload – again, it sounds like a rock album – is the everyday name for Hereditary Haemochromatosis.

Surveys suggest that one in eight of us in Northern Europe carries the abnormal gene, but only one in 250 of us has haemochromatosis.

That’s because you have two copies of the gene, one from each parent. Both copies need to be abnormal to develop haemochromatosis.

And even if they are there’s no guarantee the disease will cause any problems.

Symptoms, if they appear at all, tend to arrive in middle age between 30 and 50. Aside from joint pain and sore tummy, it can also cause tiredness.

This may lead those with symptoms to think they’re lacking iron, and then they may eat lots of food with iron in it, and take iron supplements. How ironic – quite literally. If it’s not treated then iron could build up in particular areas of the body, like the liver, heart, joints and hormone producing glands.

Eventually this could lead to scarring of the liver, bronzing of the skin, arthritis, diabetes, loss of sex drive or early menopause in women.

Blood tests can detect iron overload and the abnormal gene. Adults who have a sibling or a parent with haemochromatosis should consider being tested.

Early treatment can prevent complications and this usually involves venesection – regularly removing blood from the body.

Those with it should also avoid iron supplements and foods particularly high in iron – like offal and fortified cereals.

And if you’re persistently tired, it’s probably best to speak to your doc about blood tests before self-treating with iron supplements.