It likely will dominate the field for the next decade or more. The first 100 pages deal with the history and rapidly expanding genetics of this hereditary disorder, the most common cause of all iron overload disease. Included is a discussion of those forms of iron overload not explained by the HFE gene. Eight subsequent chapters discuss metal absorption and metabolism in hemochromatosis. Iron is not the only metal that is overabsorbed in this condition, although it has been the main focus of attention.
Chapters follow on the remarkably wide range of clinical presentations.
There is little here about bronze diabetes with cirrhosis, an end-stage condition beyond therapeutic opportunity. Instead, one learns that cardiomegaly, fatigue, arthralgias, episodic diarrhea, hypothyroidism, arrhythmias, impotence, and severe arthropathy are among the numerous presentations of iron overload. Four chapters cover treatment, from the norm of phlebotomy, through the occasional need for infused chelating agents, to the hopefully rare need for liver transplantation. Screening is of particular importance because it offers the greatest therapeutic opportunity. The book closes with a discussion of the problems associated with screening for genetic disease and of the use of hemochromatotic blood for transfusion.