Hemochromatosis, also referred to as iron overload, is a condition in which your body stores excess iron. It’s often genetic and it is capable of causing serious damage to your body, which includes your heart, liver, and pancreas. You can’t prevent this disease, but early diagnosis and timely treatment can avoid or slow organ damage. A liver transplant surgery is recommended for those people whose hemochromatosis causes severe liver damage or advances to liver failure.
The evaluation for a transplant is intricate and generally needs several months. Therefore, even if a patient is feeling quite well, they should be immediately referred for a transplant at the very first sign of liver failure or if they have advanced liver disease diagnosed by liver biopsy or X-ray studies.
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Types of Hemochromatosis
There are two types of hemochromatosis, each consists of different causes. An inherited genetic change is usually the most common cause. It’s called primary hemochromatosis, classical hemochromatosis or hereditary hemochromatosis. With primary hemochromatosis, problems with the DNA occur from both parents and cause the body to occupy too much iron. Whereas in secondary hemochromatosis, medical treatments or various other medical conditions cause the condition of excessive iron. Some of the examples include:
● Anemia (low amount of red blood cells).
● Blood transfusions.
● Kidney dialysis.
● Liver disease, like hepatitis C infection or fatty liver disease.
● Iron pills or injections.
What Are the Symptoms Of Hemochromatosis?
Not every individual with hemochromatosis develops symptoms. Some people with high levels of iron don’t face any problems, while some of the others experience extremely serious symptoms.
The thing with the symptoms is that they usually don’t appear until middle age, and they many times look like signs of other conditions. These signs can include:
● Fatigue
● General weakness
● Pain in the knuckles
● Heart flutters or irregular heartbeat.
● Joint pain
● Stomach pain
● Unexplained weight loss
How Is Hemochromatosis Diagnosed?
The symptoms of hemochromatosis are quite common and often mistaken for some other disease. To rule out this problem, your healthcare provider may carry out a detailed medical examination for accurate evaluation and assessment. This will include:
● Inquire if your parents ever had iron overload, liver disease, or other related diseases.
● Ask if you take various iron supplements.
● Inquire if you take extra vitamin C, which is responsible for boosting the absorption of iron.
● Examine your joints for pain.
● Listen to your heart to identify an irregular beat.
● Examine your skin to see if the color is off.
● Press near the liver to test for pain.
Are there any treatments available?
The problem cannot be treated however it can be managed properly with correct guidance. Doctors will even recommend dietary modifications to avoid any serious complications. With an expert doctor, a laparoscopic liver transplant can be done without any complications and impediments. Medical intervention is immensely required as the problem is progressive and is capable of damaging your liver, giving rise to the chances of a liver transplant.
You must get checked for hemochromatosis because if a doctor provides treatment for the iron overload caused by hemochromatosis before organ damage has occurred, a person can live a normal, healthy life.