Hemochromatosis (HEMOCHROMATOSIS) is a genetic abnormality that causes the intestines to absorb too much iron, often called iron overabsorption. Excess iron enters the bloodstream and accumulates in some organs, especially the liver. When neglected, the disease leads to organic damage as well as diabetes and darkening of the skin (which is sometimes called \u201cbrown diabetes\u201d). Fortunately, hemochromatosis is easier to treat than hepatitis, and if the disease is detected early, permanent damage can generally be avoided.<\/p>\n
In rare cases, over-absorption of iron results from frequent blood transfusions or from excessive iron consumption in foods. However, the most common cause of the disease is due to a defect in a gene called HFE, which was discovered in 1996. It is not known exactly how this gene causes iron overabsorption. The researchers hypothesize that it carries the signal of a pseudo-protein that causes the intestines to overabsorb iron.<\/p>\n
According to Western estimates, one out of 10 carriers of the HFE gene is abnormal, and in fact, carriers of the gene, that is, those who have one copy of it, generally do not suffer from problems. Hemochromatosis usually appears only in people who have two copies of the abnormal gene. Western statistics indicate that one in 200 to one out of 400 people carries two copies of the gene, as a result of inheriting one abnormal gene from each parent.<\/p>\n
The first step in diagnosing hemochromatosis is to take a blood test called the iron transporter saturation test. If the result shows an excess of iron in the blood, the doctor will order additional tests to determine the amounts of iron and evaluate the integrity of the liver, which may include a genetic test to see if the patient carries two abnormal copies of the HFE gene. To neutralize an extension of the disease, your doctor may recommend a biopsy of your liver.<\/p>\n
In fact, many people live with their high iron levels for years and unfortunately are not diagnosed until after some liver damage. Also, the diagnosis of this disorder is often delayed in women before menopause because of the blood loss they lose every month. Iron levels decline late in the onset of symptoms, and the average time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of hemochromatosis ranges from 5 to 8 years.<\/p>\n
Among its signs and symptoms:<\/p>\n
Tiredness, joint pain, impotence or loss of libido, increased skin pigmentation (tanning), increased thirst and urination.<\/p>\n
Some experts, including hepatologists, advise all adults (of Western origin) to undergo a transaminase test at least once in their lives, generally at a young age, to measure the level of iron in their blood, and a hemochromatosis test is not usually included in tests Routine blood test, so if you want to take the test, you have to ask for it yourself (however, this does not apply to the Arab race).<\/p>\n
However, experts do not recommend all adults to undergo genetic testing due to its high cost on the one hand, and because the number of people who suffer from iron overabsorption and who carry this genetic defect is unknown on the other hand, but, if one of the immediate relatives has hemochromatosis, such as a brother or sister Or one of the parents, you may prefer to have a genetic test to ensure that you do not face the risk of infection, and if you discover that you carry two abnormal copies of the HFE gene before complications arise, you should discuss the case with your doctor to take the necessary measures to prevent problems in the future, and the main way to prevent excess HFE Iron absorption gets rid of some of the blood (phlebotomy).<\/p>\n
The treatment of hemochromatosis is based on removing excess iron from the blood. The patient undergoes regular blood draws, which is medically called \u201cphlebotomy.\u201d A bag of blood is drawn weekly from one of the arm veins, just as it happens when donating blood, and this process is repeated until the iron returns to its normal level. .<\/p>\n
Under normal conditions, the body contains 1.5 to 2 grams of stored iron. As for people with hemochromatosis, their iron level may reach 40 grams. For each blood draw, only 250 mg of iron is removed. Therefore, it takes several months to completely remove the excess iron. After the normal level of this mineral is restored, most people need to repeat blood draws 4 to 8 times a year for the rest of their lives to prevent iron from depositing.<\/p>\n
If the disease causes damage to the liver or other organs, the patient must undergo treatment to prevent the damage from spreading to additional organs, and the treatment may be medications or surgery.<\/p>\n
It is not necessary or recommended to remove iron from the daily diet, but you should avoid consuming more than the recommended amount per day, ie 18 mg, and the most iron-rich products are iron supplements and multivitamins that the doctor may advise to avoid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hemochromatosis (HEMOCHROMATOSIS) is a genetic abnormality that causes the intestines to absorb too much iron, often called iron overabsorption. Excess iron enters the bloodstream and accumulates in some organs, especially the liver. When neglected, the disease leads to organic damage as well as diabetes and darkening of the skin (which is sometimes called \u201cbrown diabetes\u201d). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whmc-sa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}