Hemochromatosis Research Paper

Iron Deficiency Anemia affects millions of individuals across the world. This disease strikes many more women than men and has harmful effects on all who suffer from this deficiency that causes oxygen-carrying capacity to decrease. The causes can vary amongst different groups, but the aggravating symptoms remain constant. Much of the research on Iron Deficiency Anemia concentrates on not only the treatment of this disease, but also the prevention of it. To attain a better understanding of how to treat this problem, one must clearly know what Iron Deficiency Anemia means, what causes this disease, the effects of it, and finally how to cure it.

Hemochromatosis is a genetic disease in which there is too much iron that builds up in your body, this is referred to as an iron overload. Iron is an essential nutrient found in many foods but can be toxic to our bodies if we have to much. “Normally, humans absorb about 8-10% of the iron found in foods that they eat.” People with Hemochromatosis can absorb up to four times more iron than a normal human being. Since our bodies have no natural way to get rid of the extra iron, it gets stored in your body tissue including the liver, heart, pancreas and many other areas of our body can also be infected by this iron overload.

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 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.

Sharon Moalem discusses is hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a disorder that disrupts iron metabolization, by absorbing excess iron instead of passing it through the body, causing iron to build up in the organs, especially the liver, heart and pancreas. The symptoms are joint pain, fatigue, and weakness. It was first described by Armand Trousseau in 1865, but is thought to have originated with the Vikings and spread throughout Northern and Western Europe. The genetic variant for hemochromatosis is very common among people of Western European descent, but only one in two hundred of those people have the disease with all of the assorted symptoms. Hemochromatosis can be diagnosed through blood and genetic tests, and it can be treated through the ancient practice of phlebotomy, or bloodletting. This lowers the amount of iron in the blood, and in the body, to safe levels. But although it is easily treatable, if left unchecked, hemochromatosis can lead to serious complications. As Dr. Moalem says, “Unchecked, hemochromatosis can lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, and even cancer. Unchecked, hemochromatosis will lead to death.” Thus, before the days of genetic and blood testing, hemochromatosis was a very dangerous disease, and often caused death in middle age. It is here that Dr. Moalem raises the question: if hemochromatosis was so deadly, why was it passed down for so many generations? Unless it provided our ancestors with an advantage, such a damaging disease would not have remained in their gene

Hemochromatosis, also called iron overload, is a disease when the body absorbs too much iron from the food we eat and most often affects the liver, heart, pancreas, and skin. It is usually caused by genes in the body that mutate keeping them from working. Some signs and symptoms of this disease are weakness, joint pain, low libido, and/or if the disease has progressed to far diabetes or heart failure. Hemochromatosis is one of the more difficult diseases to diagnose because many symptoms are nonspecific and usually many people don’t show as many symptoms except elevated iron levels in their blood. Most will be treated with blood transfusions until the normal level of iron is reached. If diagnosed early the prognosis is excellent with possible checkups or phlebotomies.

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

Iron deficiency anemia, one of the most common types of anemia, is a blood disorder where

Hemochromatosis is a deadly disease in which the body believes that it never has enough iron. The body, as a result is that iron is not filtered out through the intestines, it is always entering the body. This iron runs out of places to be stored, and is spread throughout the body. These iron stores eventually end up changing the body and causing damage to major organs and joints. Hemochromatosis can lead to cancer, heart failure, and a plethora of other problems.

Iron is one of the important minerals that is required for our bodies to function properly. Most of the iron in our body is found in the blood such as haemoglobin, approximately 60 -70% of the human body’s iron is found in the haemoglobin, a protein in the blood that transports oxygen. Iron is also present in muscle tissue and some enzymes. There are two types of iron in the body which are “Heme Iron” from animal products and “Non-Heme Iron” vegetables and

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 cause conditions such as “liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis,

Because of this, the body absorbs iron nonstop. As a result, the body will have extremely high levels of iron, leading to fatal outcomes over time. Such consequences include “damaging the joints, the major organs, and overall body chemistry” (Moalem, p. 2). When this disease was described in 1865, it was thought that this disease was extremely rare. But it was soon discovered that this particular disease, soon called hemochromatosis, was caused by a certain gene. In the book, it states “If your ancestors are Western European, the odds are about one in three, or one in four, that you carry at least one copy of the hemochromatosis gene” (Moalem, p. 3). In other words, this is the most common hereditary disease of those of Western European descent. This brings up another question. Why would a disorder be so common in the genetic pool of the Western Europeans? First, it needs to be understood that harmful bacteria feed on iron of the macrophages to thrive. However, people with hemochromatosis have a lack of iron in their macrophages, even though it may seem like the complete opposite. Therefore, those who have hemochromatosis are less prone to infectious agents. For this reason, people with hemochromatosis were less prone to diseases like the bubonic plague and tuberculosis. During the Black Death, for people who had hemochromatosis, “though it would kill them decades later, they are much more likely. . .to survive the plague, reproduce, and pass the mutation to their children” (Moelem, p. 15). Since the mutation helped humans survive an outbreak of the bubonic break in the fourteenth century, the mutation became more common in the gene pool. To treat this genetic disorder, bloodletting is the treatment of choice since it reduces the iron level in their body. I find it interesting that bloodletting, an ancient

Hemochromatosis is when there is excess iron in the body. It is a genetic disorder that is passed down each generation and is inherited by the offspring. Iron overload directly affects the circulatory system but eventually the complications can affect the whole body and many major organs. In addition, hemochromatosis can show no symptoms but the body sometimes shows

Hemochromatosis, also known as iron overload. Iron in the body is an important component of hemoglobin, the substance in the blood that carries oxygen from the lungs to other parts of the body. Too much iron in the body leads to an overload that can damage organs like the pancreas, liver kidneys etc. During the 14th century, the Black Death or Bubonic plague was a bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis, an iron hungry bacteria. During the time, people with Hemochromatosis were “immortal” from the plague because the bacteria thrive on iron and there was none present because it was absorbed by the cells in the body of the host.

Hemophilia is a problem with the blood in a person that causes them to bleed not any faster than normal, but they often bleed for a longer period. Their blood is missing the clotting factor (a protein in the bloodstream that works to control bleeding). Hemophilia is quite rare; roughly 1 in every 10,000 persons are born with it. Rarely, hemophilia can be an acquired disease which just means a person is not born with it, but will develop it during their lifetime. This rarity occurs when a person's immune system forms antibodies that attack the clotting factor in the blood. The entire antibody population fights against the blood to prevent the clotting factors from working properly.