JULY IS HEMOCHROMATOSIS AWARENESS MONTH
One of the symptoms of primary or secondary iron overload is atrial fibrillation or afib.....for so many people ron overload almost never gets detected until someone has a disease like diabetes, heart disease/afib, cirrhosis/cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer's and even age related macular degeneration.
The higher your serum ferritin level the greater is the risk for disease in susceptible individuals (family inheritence or acquired). Most labs do still have higher ranges listed than what the experts feel are appropriate.
For most people a serum ferritin of between 40 and 75 may be a good range....but, people with one or two genes for Hemochromatosis may have to maintain a lower SF....
I try to keep my SF below 40 and accomplish this by doing periodic blood withdrawals. I also keep track of my serum transferrin saturation percentage ....and keep that below the so called norm of 45%. I have just one gene for Hemochromatosis with a high penetrance and that is why I have symptoms....of fatigue, joint pain and depression.
Yet, some people with 2 HH genes may live their entire life without any symptoms.....and may only get symptoms if they start eating higher amounts of beef, or stop drinking tea or skim milk at meals or go through the menopause. Sometimes there are other reasons for a spike in the serum ferritin level, like getting several transfusions or taking iron or vitamin C supplements and so on.
For more information: <www.irondisorders.org>
Isabelle
