What Is Hemochromatosis?

Hemochromatosis is a recessive gene disorder in which there is an excessive amount of iron salts in the tissues which damages the tissues in the liver, causes discoloration of the skin and leads to diabetes mellitus. This may cause symptoms such as abdominal pain, weakness and weight loss. Due to excessive amount of iron in the liver, it can lead to heart failure.
Another common disease is Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT) which arises from a lack of the enzyme uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase. Most patients with this disease shows an abnormal level of iron salts in the tissues. The disease becomes active if there is a combination of iron, alcohol, estrogens, HIV and smoking. This may cause a deficiency of the UROD enzyme in the liver. Area that
If there is too much iron in the body, it can be toxic and be harmful to the organs and cause organ failure. In this disease, iron is mostly accumulated in the pancreas, heart and liver. Hemochromatosis can also be at risk of PCT.
If there is too much iron in the heart, this will cause irregular heartbeats and might lead to heart failure. The irregular heartbeats produced by the heart are called arrhythmias. If there is too much iron in the pancreas, this might lead to diabetes. If the excessive amount of iron in the body is not treated, it can be fatal and thus lead to death.
There are two types of hemochromatosis. They are primary and secondary. Each of them has a different cause. Primary Hemochromatosis has been caused by genes defect. The amount of iron absorbed from food can be controlled from these genes. Secondary Hemochromatosis is usually the result of another disease which cause excessive amount of
General symptoms such as tiredness can be analysed in women whereas men’ symptoms are more complicated. Weight loss, stomach pain, joint pain and weakness are other common signs and symptoms of this disease.
If the disease is not treated on time, it can cause heart problems, liver disease, joint damage and pain, changes in skin colour, damage of adrenal gland and failure of the reproductive organ.
The disease is diagnosed by an internal medicine specialists. Physical exam is performed to check whether the patient has the signs and symptoms of hemochromatosis. This will be done by listening to the heartbeats of the heart. If the disease is present, the liver will be enlarged, the skin will have an abnormal colour and there will be irregular heartbeats.
Blood tests can be performed to check the level of iron. If Hemochromatosis is present, the level of iron in the body may be high. The doctor may also test for the serum ferritin level. This will show how much iron is being stored in the organ of the body. Another way to diagnose hemochromatosis is to see how much iron is in the patient’s liver. This can be done by magnetic resonance