| Since so many of us AA types battle the insidious iron
overload, I am starting this page to collect information on what it is,
what to do about it and any other related information. In our case,
hemochromatosis is not hereditary, but acquired due to excess of blood
transfusions. Under normal conditions, there is approximately 4-6 gm
of iron in the body. On March 1, 2002, my ferritin level (measure
the amount of iron in my body) was 2857 vs. a norm of 22-415 ng/ml
in a male over 45 (Females over 45 s/b 15-200, females 18-45 = 6-115 and
male 18-45 22-340). I am a steady partaker of desferol and am now
down around 800 when last checked but I have not had a transfusion in over
four months. The body is unfortunately very efficient when it comes
to storing iron.
You can read more about Hemochromatosis (mostly hereditary bias) at http://www.ironoverload.org/
. They favor bloodletting as the primary treatment (see below)
but don't think that would be such a good idea in our case!
<grin> Let me see, on Monday, I will "let some
blood" to get rid of my hemochromatosis and then on Tuesday, I will
get a transfusion to build back my blood levels and then on Wednesday,
I'll "let" some more and then on Thursday, I'll ......
Hmmm
Excerpt from Ironoverload web page:
You can't cure hemochromatosis by eating less iron. It's impossible
to avoid iron in the American diet. Iron resides in every living plant and
animal cell, and virtually all commercials flours are iron-enriched.
Switching to a multivitamin without iron will help. Only marginally.
Most multivitamins contain small amounts of elemental iron. More
important, vitamin C enhances the body's ability to absorb iron.
Bloodletting is an outmoded medieval practice. Phlebotomy is the
standard of care for hemochromatosis. Once you make the diagnosis, your
patient needs to have his or her blood drawn regularly to reduce and keep
down her body's store of iron.--Steven Finch
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Oh well, nobody said this was going to be easy.
Bruce
10/08/02
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