We've been receiving lots of telephone calls lately from dietitians and physicians who are treating people with hemochromatosis. Since you will probably get some of these as clients also, here is a little information on the disorder and its treatment. Hemochromatosis is an excess of iron in the body which causes tissue damage and, because bacteria thrive in iron-rich environments, many and severe infections. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, enlarged liver, skin pigmentation, cardiac arrhythmia, fatigue, confusion, joint pain, and loss of body hair. Untreated, this condition can lead to liver cancer, heart failure and arthritis.
Most humans absorb only as much iron as the body needs.
Because the only significant way to get rid of absorbed iron is by bleeding, the body is very cautious about absorbing iron in the first place. This figure varies widely from person to person, day to day, and meal to meal, depending on other factors. The person with hemochromatosis has a failure in the regulation of absorption so that iron accumulates in the body until it begins to cause damage. The disease has a genetic basis, and hereditary hemochromatosis is a fairly common inborn error of metabolism, occuring in about 4-5 out of every 1000 caucasians. Prevalence rates in non-caucasians are not known.