How Does Iron Affect The Body

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

Known as iron overload, hemochromatosis is a condition in which the body accumulated iron from any cause. The most common cause however is from a genetic disorder which is termed, hereditary hemochromatosis (HH). Iron is found in red blood cells, which is a major component on the transportation of oxygen throughout the body. We lose about 1mg per day through our sweat and sheading of our skin and GI cells. We intake approximately 10-20mg a day, yet only absorb approximately 10% of its which makes a net gain of about 1-2mg a day. The iron is stored in cells in the form as ferritin. The iron lost and gained is always closely equal in healthy patients. Patients suffering from hemochromatosis absorb approximately 4mg of iron a day,

As living creature’s animals and people iron is one of many essential minerals we that need to stay alive. Iron is required to produce red blood cells through a process called haematopoiesis. It is also an important component of the red blood cells (in hemoglobin) where the iron is present when that is transporting oxygen from the lungs then throughout the body. Once the oxygen delivered the iron binds to the carbon dioxide back to the lungs and the carbon is exhaled. It has many other functions: maintain homeostasis, metabolism (conversion of blood sugar to energy, production of enzymes, amino acids, new cells, hormones, etc.). The metabolisms process is allowing people to maintain healthy cells of skin, nails, hair, internal organs, and everything else that allows a person to be alive. However too little iron could cause a condition known as iron deficiency such as anemia. If someone has too much iron it can cause a person to become toxic as the storage of iron increases it would cause Hemochromatosis and other conditions. For the research, I have selected House: season three and episode 23 “The Jerk”.

Hemochromatosis can be treated through a process called bloodletting. It is a practice where a patient is purposely bled. Regularly bleeding a hemochromatosis patient can reduce their iron to normal amounts, which prevents severe damage to the organs. Therefore, although hemochromatosis leads to death in a few decades, “it will protect us from a disease that is killing everyone else long before

Presumed to have been plaguing humanity since the Viking era, hemochromatosis is a fatal hereditary disease that upsets the body's natural metabolizing of iron. The mineral, although essential to the survival of all living organisms, becomes extremely lethal in abnormally large quantities. Unfortunately, this serves as rather tragic news to those afflicted with the disease, since their bodies absorb iron in an uncontrollable manner. Various medical complications and consequences, including cancer, infertility, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, arthritis, and damage in the joints and overall body chemistry, could eventually occur over a long period of time. Hemochromatosis furthermore attacks major organs such as the heart and liver, and

Hereditary Hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder found on the HFE protein and has been found to alter the body’s capability to manage the absorption of iron. Hemochromatosis originates from the Latin terms Hemo- (blood) + chromo- (color) + -osis (disease or abnormal increase). Hemochromatosis can have early signs and symptoms. These may include one to suffer from joint pain, abdominal pain, show signs of weight loss and potentially show a reduction in sexual desire. Other signs and symptoms, which usually occur in the late onset stages, may include diabetes, arthritis, and potential risk of having or having liver disease and heart complications. In relation, emergence and advancement of these signs and symptoms in an individual can be affected by epigenetic factors such as environmental factors that play a key role in switching genes on and off. Hereditary Hemochromatosis can be classified into 4-type’s correlating with when the age of onset occurs or how it’s inherited. The first type, or type-1, is the most common of the forms in Hereditary Hemochromatosis. In relation to type-4, both type-1 and 4 have

The first disease to be discussed by Dr. Moalem is an inherited disease called hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a blood disorder that affects the body’s process of metabolizing iron. Normally, the body is able to notice when a sufficient amount of iron is present in the blood, and reduces iron absorption by the intestines. However, hemochromatosis disrupts the body’s ability to detect when enough iron is in the blood. Thus, the body absorbs iron continuously, even though there is enough. The iron overload can ultimately lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, cancer, and death. It is difficult to diagnose hemochromatosis because symptoms such as joint pains are also symptoms of other

In order to justify some of the benefits of the hemochromatosis gene, it is important to mention that a hemochromatic person has an uneven concentration of iron in their bloodstream. Although there is plenty of iron to go around, not all of it is distributed evenly. Certain white blood cells called macrophages are among those cells in the bloodstream that do not receive a sufficient amount of iron in a hemochromatic bloodstream. Normally, macrophages act as guards for the blood against foreign invaders, and when they find a virus, they bind to it and bring it back to the lymph nodes for filtering the foreign particle. Sometimes, this process backfires. Since (almost) all organisms on Earth thrive on iron, the virus that is attached to the macrophage starts to feed on the iron in the cell. By the time the macrophage and virus reach the lymph node, the virus is stronger after consuming the iron, and is able to multiply and invade the lymphatic system. In a hemochromatic person, however, the macrophages are starved of

Hereditary hemochromatosis: A disease when the body overly absorbs and stores iron. Some of this sulplis iron is stored in the liver,

Our results demonstrate that there is a relation between iron therapy and HbA1C in patients with type 2 DM. Our results are in accordance with the findings of Brooks et al. and Davis et al.’s study [19, 20]. They revealed a relationship between iron deficiency anemia and HbA1C levels and attempted to ex¬plain the alteration in HbA1C levels in iron deficiency anemia on the basis of both modifications to the structure of hemoglobin and levels of HbA1C in old and new red blood cells.

Most of the iron in our body is found in the blood as hemoglobin, which is a protein used to carry oxygen to the body's tissues. Good sources of iron in food include red meat, beans, fish, and green leafy vegetables. Iron is a key element in the metabolism of almost all living organisms. Iron is so important that without it all life would cease to exist. Every living thing, plants, animals, human beings, bacteria (good and bad), need iron to survive and

Hereditary Hemochromatosis is a disease that causes the body to absorb and store more iron than is needed. Iron is an important nutrient that people get from food. It is the main component of hemoglobin, and it carries oxygen away from the lungs to the rest of the body. In Hereditary Hemochromatosis, the body absorbs almost twice as much iron as it should be, that causes it to be stored in other areas such as joints and major organs. This excess iron cannot leave these joints or major organs, Over time this can cause diabetes and damage to an organ. Even though a kid could be born with hemochromatosis, the disease might not be recognized or diagnosed till early adulthood or later. This is caused by a virus in a gene that controls how much iron the body takes in from one’s meal. This genetic disease alters the regulation of iron absorption. If correctly diagnosed, HH is easily and effectively treated, but if untreated, it can lead to severe organ damage.

Hemochromatosis is an inherited recessive genetic disorder where the body absorbs and stores too much iron in the body. Often when iron is discussed in United States diets it is to combat the portion of our society that is anemic due to and iron-deficient diet, but we often fail to think about the other end of the spectrum. Unlike people with iron-deficiently anemia individuals with hemochromatosis have an excessive amount of iron in their body which can lead to overtime organ damage. “If hemochromatosis is not detected and treated early, it may eventually cause serious irreversible disorders such as arthritis, liver disease, heart disease and diabetes later in life.”1 Unfortunately there are few symptoms of the disease, and of those symptoms they are very generic like chronic fatigue, weakness, joint pain, depression, shortness of breath. As you can see those physical symptom can easily point to many different issues (including iron-deficient anemia) before a doctor will usually think about hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis vague beginning symptoms are usually why is so underdiagnosed by doctors in the early stages. Thus many times hemochromatosis is not diagnosed until the progression

The first disease to be discussed by Dr. Moalem is an inherited disease called hemochromatosis. Hemochromatosis is a blood disorder that affects the body’s process of metabolizing iron. Normally, the body is able to notice when a sufficient amount of iron is present in the blood, and reduces iron absorption by the intestines. However, hemochromatosis disrupts the body’s ability to detect when enough iron is in the blood. Thus, the body absorbs iron continuously, even though there is enough. The iron overload can ultimately lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, arthritis, infertility, psychiatric disorders, cancer, and death. Symptoms of hemochromatosis include abnormal heartbeat rhythm and joint pains. It is difficult to diagnose

Hemochromsatosis- A disorder in which the body absorbs more iron than needed. There are two types primary which is genetic or secondary which is from repeated blood transfusions. It mostly comes from the diet you consume. The excess iron is stored in the organs and leads to organ toxicity. It can also lead to serious illnesses such as liver disease, heart problems and diabetes.