Iron overload, medically known as hemochromatosis, is an inherited metabolic disease in which the body absorbs too much iron from food. Normally, the body recycles iron from old red blood cells and absorbs new iron when its reserves are low. In hemochromotosis, this natural control goes awry, and the body both recycles its own iron and extracts more from food. Eventually, deposits of iron in many of the body’s organs and tissues become dangerously high, resulting in possible diabetes and damage to the heart, liver, pancreas, Joints, and testicles. Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of death among people with hemochromatosis.
Symptoms rarely appear before age 20 and are observed most commonly between ages 40 and 60. Manifestations include chronic fatigue, aching joints, gastrointestinal pains, jaundice, an enlarged liver, and cardiac arrhythmias. Many people also develop abnormally ruddy skin, especially on the face. About one person in 10 carries the responsible gene, but to develop the disease, a person must inherit it from both parents, who may themselves be asymptomatic carriers. Hereditary, or primary, hemochromatosis is far more common than previously thought, affecting more than 1 million Americans. Men outnumber women five- to tenfold; this is attributed to the fact that women lose iron periodically through menstruation or pregnancy.