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.
Hemochromatosis is hereditary and the most common genetic disease in the U.S. This genetic disease is passed on
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In other words, females do not build up iron as quickly over time. 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.
There is also three other forms of hemochromatosis Juvenile, neonatal, and transfusion. “Juvenile hemochromatosis is one type of form which affects young adults ages 15 to 30.” Then there is “neonatal hemochromatosis, which is when iron builds up very quickly in an infants liver and can cause death.” The third is transfusion related hemochromatosis which is a result of “iron overload cause by to many blood transfusions.”
Too much iron is toxic to your body. If the excess iron is left untreated it can damage joints, organs, your liver could become enlarged, liver failure, liver cancer, or cirrhosis which is scarring of the liver. This can result in the organs to not working well. If your heart gets too much iron it can produce an irregular
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
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.
Take hemochromatosis, a hereditary condition that causes iron to accumulate in a person's body. A person having hemochromatosis
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.
Moalem states how the " gene for hemochromatosis is the most common genetic variant in people of Western European descent. " (Moalem 2007, pg.2). While hemochromatosis is very common in people of Western European descent, “it is very rare in African American, Asian, Hispanic, Latino or American Indian individuals.” (Coriell Institute for Medical Research, 2015). Thus showing that hemochromatosis most likely shows up in people of European descent. Moalem claims to have an explanation to why hemochromatosis shows up in people of European descent. He claims that it all boils down to the bubonic plague that kill millions of Europeans during the 14th century. Moalem (2007) believed that “the more iron in a given population, the more vulnerable that population is to the plague." This piece of information makes one wonder, if people with hemochromatosis had an excess of iron within their bodies, why weren't they all killed pout by the plague. The answer lies in the diseases itself, hemochromatosis unevenly spreads iron throughout the body and macrophages, a type of white blood cells that protect our immune system and the cells that infections such as the bubonic plague use to gain their way into our immune system, contains lower than normal levels of iron. Proving that people with hemochromatosis do actually have less iron in macrophages. Nouri (2011) says, “It is believed that the mutation results in the absence of the C282Y protein on host cell surfaces, causing an increase in the affinity of cellular receptors for transferrin (an unaffected protein in humans which carries iron in the blood) and hindering transferrin acquisition by pathogens. Yersinia pestis, like other iron-hungry bacteria, thrives in an iron rich environment. And it is thus populated
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.
Iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia results from an inadequate amount (deficiency) of iron in the bloodstream. It is described as "iron-refractory" because the condition is totally resistant (refractory) to treatment with iron given orally and partially resistant to iron given in other ways, such as intravenously (by IV). In people with this form of anemia, red blood cells are abnormally small (microcytic) and pale (hypochromic). The symptoms of iron-refractory iron deficiency anemia
As shown in this case study, the patient was hospitalized very often due to severe acute pain caused due to microvascular occlusion. There can be two possibilities for the symptoms of pain- increase in intra-medullary pressure or periosteum of the soft tissue of her bones. Her report shows a very high serum ferritin level which is due to mutation in hemochromatosis gene (HFE). This increased the level of iron in her body. Due to abnormal liver enzymes, the liver eventually stopped carrying out its normal function causing Alanine Aminotransferase(ALT) to increase. Her ALT level was persistently increasing which means she can be suffering from acute viral hepatitis. She is suffering from diabetes due to the formation of glycated protein. She didn’t get her periods on time because of the lack oxygen being transported throughout the body. Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism can be observed in her body due to some problem in the hypothalamus or pituitary gland. The reason behind abnormal FSH, LH and Oestradiol in her body is because of iron deposition in the endocrine gland. One more reason for the increase in iron level can be due to multiple blood transfusion in her past. It is appropriate to undergo chelation therapy since her liver iron
I was surgery last month. After surgery, my doctor told me I had an amount of blood. So, I felt very tired. I become more interested in anemia. Accordingly, I had picked iron deficiency anemia. According to the Health line, anemia occurs when I have a level of red blood cells (RBCs) in my blood that is lower than normal. They explained iron deficiency anemia that is the most common type of anemia, and it occurs when my body do not have enough of the mineral iron. My body needs iron to make a protein called hemoglobin. This protein is responsible for carrying oxygen to my body’s tissues, which is essential form my tissues and muscles to function effectively. When there is not enough iron in my blood stream, the rest of my body cannot get the
Iron balance is mainly regulated by its absorption and storage, as there are a lack of iron excretory mechanisms (Hansen, et al., 2014). Iron is absorbed in the duodenum and is bound to transferrin, a protein which transports it throughout the bloodstream. Iron is then stored in a non-toxic form by ferritin which allows iron to be released as it is needed in a controlled fashion (Bogdan, et al., 2016). In the event that iron levels become too high, the body secretes hepcidin. Hepcidin is a peptide hormone produced by the liver which blocks absorption of the dietary iron from entering the bloodstream. (Hansen, et al., 2014). This allows the body
Common effect that Haemochromtosis has on daily life is there can be joint pain stoping them doing daily life actives such as running ,cooking , shopping, doing the washing and most all house old duty are effected in one’s daily life because of the joint pain that can lead to arthritis. Abdominal pain is another symptom of Haemochromtosis which effect people daily lifestyle in that you are unable to concentrate or move freely during the day.
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.
Iron Deficiency is the most common nutritional health problem in the world. It involves the iron levels in a persons system being lower then the recommended in a person. Iron is of large importance in a person as it acts as an aid in carrying the oxygen to the lung tissue. Having low Iron can lead to morbidity in the form of anemia or in worst-case scenario, death. The average daily intake of iron for a normal female is 18mg of Iron.
Iron deficiency anemia can occur because you lose more blood cells and iron than your body can replace, your body does not absorb
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