Hemochromatosis is a medical condition in which the body absorbs too much iron. The weight of iron in the body, therefore, exceeds the normal range which should be between 2mg to 3mg per liter.
There are two types of hemochromatosis:
Hereditary, which happens when you inherit one or two abnormal genes from your parents, and Secondary. The latter may be caused by too many blood transfusions especially if you have a chronic liver disease or some types of anemia.
The multiple transfusions lead to excessive accumulation of iron in the body. There are several signs of the condition. These are listed in the paragraphs that follow.
1. Joint Pain
These are among the first symptoms of hemochromatosis. The flag is common in persons in middle ages.
It is associated with pains in both sides of the hips in women which also include a reduction in internal rotation, reduced grip of things, pains in both metacarpals and stiffness in the second and third metacarpals.
Soft tissues swell over the stiff metacarpals. You can also have stiff sub-talar joints. In the case of hereditary hemochromatosis, the joint pains may affect the whole family.
If not treated early, it may lead to complications which can force you to have a bilateral total hip replacement since the condition becomes un-treatable in advanced stages.
2. Fatigue
Fatigue is another early symptom of hemochromatosis. Iron is essential in the transport of oxygen around the body as it is used to make red blood cells which carry hemoglobin. Too much iron is deposited in your organs.
This can change your normal body functioning and may even interfere with hormonal balance. It is possible to have fatigue when you have a deficiency of iron and when iron content in the blood is too high.
It is therefore advisable to seek medical attention first before looking for iron supplements or increasing red meat consumption. The condition can be controlled by reducing the amount of meat you eat.
Going vegan can also help in reducing the amount of iron you take into your body system.
3. Weakness
The general body weaknesses happens between 30 and 50 years of age. Hemochromatosis causes the bones to weaken, leading to general body weakness. One of the causes is the arthropathy which happens when the iron accumulates in the tissue joints.
Chondrocalcinosis which associated with the knees and the bones may occur make the body feel weak. This condition is asymptomatic. Other joints affected which can make the body feel weak are the back and the neck joints.
Body weakness is one of the mild and early symptoms of the disease. Once it happens, body screening becomes essential. Regularly testing the amount of iron in the body can help you in determining if you should go for further treatment or not.
4. Abdominal Pain
One of the effects of hemochromatosis is the joint pains as stated above. These joints include the joints on the hips where a shooting pain is experienced. This can lead to the replacement of the bones if the condition is not diagnosed and treated earlier.
In case of this situation and your doctor has found out that you have the condition, it is essential to follow some do’s which include taking your medication as prescribed by the doctor who tested your condition, eating a balanced diet and some don’ts like not taking iron pills or vitamin C, stop drinking alcohol and making some types of fish like shellfish.
5. Diabetes
Hemochromatosis can lead to diabetes, generally referred to as hemochromatosis diabetes. Overload of iron causes damage to important organs, including the pancreas.
The hemochromatosis is sometimes referred to as the bronze diabetes. Mostly, in adverse conditions, may gray in color or even become a dull bronze hue. This coloration occurs when the amount of iron build up is so high such that it shows up on the surface as patches.
In these circumstances, ensure that you are tested immediately. It is vitally important to catch hemochromatosis as early as possible.
6. Loss of Sex Drive
One of the effects of the increased amount of iron in the body is the adverse effects it has on the hormonal system. An increased amount of metal in the body can lead to diminished libido.
Iron overload affects hormonal imbalance in the body. This lowers spermatozoon production due to reduced production of testosterone hormone in men.
Whenever your ferritin has gone higher above 300ng/ml, it’s an indication that you will require a change in the lifestyle like lowering the amount of meat you are taking and donating blood regularly. You should also seek to get proper medical care.
7. Impotence
Impotence is one of the symptoms of the iron overload that are usually more common in men than in women. Impotence occurs mostly in middle aged men, primarily those with Hereditary hemochromatosis. As the Hemochromatosis begins targeting more and more organs, the testes shrink.
The pituitary gland is affected by the amount of iron in the body. Since the pituitary gland is responsible for production and regulation of most of the body’s hormones, especially secondary growth hormones like testosterone, the production of hormones suffers.
This eventually leads to hypogonadism which ultimately leads to impotence. Testing for the condition early in life can help in reducing the chances of the disease having harsh adverse effects later on in life. Early diagnosis is key to treating and controlling Hemochromatosis.
8. Heart Failure
This condition is called cardiac hemochromatosis or primary hemochromatosis. Dysfunction of the diastolic system accompanies it. Later as the disease advances, it can include dilated cardiomyopathy which can lead to heart arrhythmias.
In an event where you suspect yourself of having hemochromatosis, you should seek to undergo full 2D Echo testing. A comprehensive Doppler echocardiography should also be performed. This will test the functioning and the rate of your systolic and diastolic systems.
There are newer, more modern technologies like strain imaging and speckle-tracking echocardiography can help in detecting the anomalies in early stages of the sickness. Other tests to consider are the cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.
To assist in reducing the amount of iron in the blood, it is essential that you get tested by serial imaging. After the tests, you are required to undergo a series of therapies which include therapeutic phlebotomy and iron chelation.
All these test and treatments are crucial in increasing the chances of survival of the patient. It is generally estimated that heart failure caused by hemochromatosis can prevented as issues produced by regular heart failures if aggressive and early treatment of the patient is done.
Otherwise, if the condition goes untreated, it can result in the patient surviving for less than a year.
9. Liver Failure
Liver failure is usually associated with alcohol consumption. While that is scientifically and practically right, other factors also play a role in promoting liver failure such as hemochromatosis.
This condition causes build up of iron in the liver. This causes liver cirrhosis which eventually lea to liver failure. In such state, you can undergo tests to prove whether it is the overload of iron in the body which is causing the situation.
One of the criteria that you will go through is liver histology. An HFE gene analysis will also be used t-test in the cases of primary hemochromatosis.
If you are found with the condition, one of the best ways to restore your system to normal is undergoing iron reduction therapy with deferoxamine. This leads to a tremendous ferritic decrease and improvement on the clinical condition.
If the state is secondary hemochromatosis, your iron metabolism of pyruvate-kinase deficiency also known as PKD has to be monitored closely and more keenly. The iron overload should be consequences.
