The form of Wilson's disease which mimics fulminant hepatitis occurs most commonly in adolescent patients, but may be seen also in young adults. The disease progresses with deepening jaundice and the development of encephalopathy, severe clotting abnormalities, occasionally with intravascular coagulation, terminal renal insufficiency and, almost always, death. Examples include the abnormal accumulation of iron, called hemochromatosis. In hemochromatosis, patients inherit a tendency to absorb an excessive amount of iron from food. Over time, iron accumulation in different organs causes cirrhosis, arthritis, heart muscle damage leading to heart failure, and testicular dysfunction causing loss of sex drive.
Treatment involves prevention of organ damage by removing iron from the body through bloodletting.
Interestingly, menstruation protects women from organ damage until after menopause.