Disorders

Hemochromatosis: Symptoms and Treatment

Description of Hemochromatosis

Hemochromatosis

Hemochromatosis is a disease that can seriously affect your bodies organs such as the pancreas your liver and also your heart. These organs are in danger when you are a victim of Hemochromatosis. This disease is to do with your body and also this disease also has a lot to do with the mineral Iron. Nearly every time we eat you can be sure that there is some form of Iron in our food. Sufferers from Hemochromatosis will know that their body does not act in the same way as another human body. Their body will instead absorb a lot more of the Iron then recommended. The high intake of Iron will be stored in your heart, liver and pancreas and this can result in some severe health problems for the person that has this disease. A high intake of iron can actually result in the patient contracting life-threating illnesses such as cancer, heart troubles and even liver disorders.

Vulnerable Age Groups

It seems that there are people that are more likely to attract this disease more then others. The age group that should be more concerned then others is the mid life age group as they are more likely to realize that they have contracted Hemochromatosis because this is when this illness does start to become active inside the patient. However for women it is slightly later because theirs will not become activate until when they are 50 years old. There have been cases when a patient has experienced this disease sooner in their life but these cases are fairly rare amongst people. This does show however that we should always be on the lookout for this disease showing up inside either us or someone close to us. The sudden shock that people get from this disease can happen at any age so we should be careful. However extra should be taken when we are in our mid life ages as this is the more likely time that the disease will become active in our bodies.

Signs of Hemochromatosis

There are signs that do show up when a patient might have Hemochromatosis. However as we do know the patient is born with this disease at birth but it will not become active until the patient reaches their mid-life years. While there are people that do show signs of having this disease there are also people that will not show any signs at all and they will instead have to visit their doctor who will then give them the surprising news that they are a sufferer of this disease. There will be some people that will have an advanced stage of this disease and this is without even knowing it. The main symptoms to look out for though are a bronze color to their skin and also there are cases where the patient has visible iron deposits which can make their skin look grey instead of the normal skin color that they have. These signs of this disease can seem small, if you have noticed that your skin color might be looking different then you should visit the doctor for an immediate check up. If this disease is not detected early then you might suffer later on in life. There have been cases when a patient has not had this disease diagnosed and then they develop diabetes and kidney as well as liver problems so it is always a good idea to get this checked up with your doctor.

Treatment for Hemochromatosis

There is treatment available for Hemochromatosis and all it involves is blood being taken from your body once every couple of weeks. The amount that will be taken out will vary and you may have a pint taken out or maybe even less then this. This can be done at the doctors or at the hospital but both ways will be painless and you will not have to worry about any complications with this.

Summary of Hemochromatosis

Overall this disease is not a nice thing to have if you do not detect it early enough. Late diagnosis of Hemochromatosis can mean that you do end up with liver and kidney problems as well as possible diabetes so all this means that you have to be alert. Thankfully there is treatment for Hemochromatosis and you can get this treatment simply from going to the doctor every couple of weeks and then you can get back to being yourself again.

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