I appreciate your sending this valuable information. Ann Landers is the most widely syndicated columnist in the world and has an estimated readership of 90 million in over 1,200 newspapers. Many lives were saved as a result f this column as readers wrote to say that they were diagnosed as a result of the information provided in the column. Hemochromatosis is an inherited disorder that causes iron overload and is often overlooked by doctors. More than 1.5 million Americans are affected by this disease, which can cause a variety of serious problems, including diabetes, cancer, arthritis, cirrhosis of the liver, and heart disease.
Victims are subject to agonizing pain, irreversible damage and premature death.
This genetic defect, an inborn error of metabolism causes people to absorb too much iron from the diet. Because the body has no way to eliminate iron except by bleeding, it builds up in many organs over the years. Since its effects are nonspecific, hemochromatosis is often not diagnosed properly until the heart, liver, joints, and testicles are damaged. There is a treatment for this disease, but early diagnosis cannot be made unless there is proper screening. Only these tests will give an accurate picture of a patient's iron status.