Haemochromatosis
Haemochromatosis is an inherited disorder causing defective metabolism of iron. It is common (about 1 in 10 of the population carry the gene, between one in 200 and one in 2000 have the disease). It results in increased absorption of Iron from the small bowel. This increased amount of Iron gets deposited in all the tissues, so that it causes for example diabetes mellitus by pancreatic damage, while in the liver it can predispose to cirrhosis and liver cancer. It presents earlier in men since women are protected to a certain extent by blood loss through menstruation. The treatment involves removing Iron by removing blood - a unit of blood contains 250 milligrams of iron, so giving a pint a week for a year should clear the amount of excess Iron that’s usually present at diagnosis, and then a pint every few months should ensure the Iron levels are kept normal. Since Vitamin C increases Iron absorption it should be avoided by patients with haemochromatosis. First-degree relatives should have their blood tested to ensure they too don’t have the condition.
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