Hemochromatosis : A Dangerous Disease

In chapter one it talks about how hemachromatosis is a hereditary disease and it’s the most common genetic disease for people of European descent, in which the body can't register that it has enough iron. So it keeps absorbing as much of it as possible, and this can have very, serious side effects (including death). Iron is very important for bacteria, cancer, and other things to grow. The way this disease is most easily treated is blood letting. Looks like all those crazy blood-letting, leech-sticking doctors weren't mistreating everyone. What is the author's argument for why this disease stuck around? To really simplify things: during the black plague in Europe, people with more iron in their system were more likely

People of the Old World had domesticated pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle(1), which had acted as pathogens to infect the Europeans with diseases. In addition, diseases were constantly circulated with centuries of war, exploration, and city building. During the process of natural selection, disease-intolerant

There are two types of hemochromatosis, primary and secondary. Primary hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder passed down through families. It occurs at birth. People with this condition absorb too much iron through their digestive tract. Iron builds up in the body, especially the liver. You are more likely to get this disease if someone else in your family has or had the condition. Secondary hemochromatosis is due to other blood-related disorders such as thalassemia or certain anemia’s. Sometimes it occurs in people with long-term alcoholism and other health conditions.

Sickle cell: One of the first inherited diseases to be unraveled at the level of DNA was sickle-cell anemia which is defined as abnormal, crescent-shaped red blood cells that results from a single change in the amino acid sequence of the cell's hemoglobin, which causes the cell to contort, especially under low-oxygen conditions. (medical dictionary, 2017) Also, called drepanocyte, meniscocyte. Also, this blood disorder mostly affects Africans and natives of the Mediterranean region are those who are affected by malaria. A single mutation in the gene for the blood protein hemoglobin can affect its ability to transport oxygen around the body. People who inherit two copies of the same mutation, one from each parent, have severe symptoms.

People may not know they have hemochromatosis since in the early stages they may not have any symptoms. In this stage, the only way the disorder can be detected is through routine blood tests and the doctor noticing elevated iron levels in the blood. Usually, the first and most common symptoms of hemochromatosis is joint pain and fatigue, but these are symptoms which occur in several other diseases and disorders, so the diagnosis is frequently held up or even overlooked. “Pain in the knuckles of the pointer and middle finger, collectively called ‘The Iron Fist,’ is the only sign or symptom specific to hemochromatosis. However, not everyone with HHC experiences the Iron Fist” (“WHAT IS HEMOCHROMATOSIS?” n.d.).

The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of

The first disease Moalem discusses, hemochromatosis, is a hereditary disorder that he himself lives with. It causes excess iron buildup throughout the body, damaging “the joints, the major organs, and overall body chemistry” (p. 13). Hemochromatosis can lead to “liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders[, ...] cancer” (p. 13) and, in the end, death. Although it is more common in some communities than others, today the low-penetrance disease only manifests in 1 in 200 people.

Survival of the Sickest, written by author Dr. Sharon Moalem, is a book discussing why evolution has not allowed for the destruction of certain diseases. He states that these deadly diseases, such as Anemia, Hemochromatosis, and High Cholesterol, are in fact tools that evolution used to help the human race survive. He explains how these diseases helped fight against more dangerous and life threatening sicknesses such as, Malaria, the Bubonic Plague, and Vitamin D deficiency related illnesses. The main idea of this book is a simple one. Evolution did not necessarily favor adaptations that made us better. Instead, it favored adaptations that helped us survive. Even if these adaptations would end up killing us in the long run.

One of the well known massive disasters that happened in the history of European is the “Black Death.” This fatal plague led to huge loss of between 17 million and 28 million lives in whole Europe. It took place from 1345 to 1353 and the death arrived by sea during the time when twelve Genoese trading ships had actually docked at the Sicilian port after travelling through the Black Sea. A horrifying surprise befell the individuals who were gathering on the docks when they realized that a great number of sailors had died, and the lucky sailors were extremely ill. In addition, they were covered by mysterious black boils which oozed pus and blood (Cohn, pg 514). This is why they named this kind of illness as the “Black Death.” Then what followed were other various symptoms such as vomiting, fever, diarrhea, chills, severe aches and extraordinary pains- and then death.

He/She talks about the different methods used in desperate need to find a cure such as astrology or it was punishment for human sin. Finally medical students such as Gentile da Foligno thought that it was thought the air, while rival school came up with “choleric matter.”The difference between the two is “Choleric matter”theory is basically stating that Cholera or yellow bite was part of the human body and deemed essential for health but any access to it was cause to disease. While Gentile’s theory was that once the air was corrupt with the disease and you inhale it your body creates “Poisonous Matter” near the heart and lungs which caused the disease. But neither of these really produced a cure, Alfonso de Córdoba explained that the black death was from human and artificial causes “played into popular psychology need to maintain human control over such an extraordinary disease.”Over all many citizens viewed doctors during the time of the Black Death very

Take hemochromatosis, a hereditary condition that causes iron to accumulate in a person's body. A person having hemochromatosis

Like the world around us the medical field is always changing. It is always pushing forward, trying to understand mysteries of the human body that have boggled researchers for decades. What confuses scientists more, are the organisms or conditions that create these abnormalities that can send the human body into a downward spiral. Disease is something that has affected human civilization since the dawn of time. It can either be chronic or acute, but in either case it has the potential to bring havoc to the human body systems that can lead to devastating consequences. Generally there are two main types of diseases, ones caused by invading pathogens and those which are hereditary. One hereditary disease that can be particularly tragic is

Hemochromatosis is the over loading of Iron in the body which lead to damage to organs. Although Iron is thought to help bacteria grow more rapidly with this particular illness it blocks bacteria from growing due to iron-deficient macrophages. Macrophages are white blood cells that act as a blockage for bacteria and can help kill the bacteria off instead of feeding it since with done not have the iron the bacteria needs to thrive. The example used in the book is the Bubonic plague, it is thought that the people had this block were less susceptible to the plague and that was the majority of the people that survived. This is ultimately what has been allowing the mutation to live on in the gene

1. Hemochromatosis is a recessive inherited disorder that affects the body’s mechanism of metabolizing it’s iron resources. Lack of proper metabolizing resources can result in excess iron depositions in the body; leading to infertility, psychiatric disorders as well as various heart diseases, and even death if left untreated. This disease is said to have originated from the Vikings in Northern Europe, and is quite common among those of Western European descent. Similar to hemochromatosis, cystic fibrosis is also a recessive hereditary disease, caused by a mutation in the CFTR gene that affects the movement of chloride ions between cells. As a result, the secretion of sweat, digestive juices and mucus are affected as well. Likewise, this disease

While others, were only effected by direct contact. It was thought to have been sustainable by even touching clothing or other such items of the infected. Conditions of the fourteenth century were also a contributing factor. Famine had been an arising issue due to the number of overpopulation. Because of this, their immune systems began to weaken. “Europeans were susceptible to disease because many people lived in crowded surroundings in an era when personal hygiene was not considered important” (Dowling). The cities were unsanitary and littered with germs, making it easier to sustain such diseases. Unhealthy habits were conducted and medical advances had not yet been made. Doctors themselves had not known what to advise. No prescriptions had worked. There was no cure to what was happening. Most were not even aware of what was impending upon them. Anything that could would be tried, in hopes of living. People were becoming desperate.