Hemachromatosis

In the old days, that means 2 to 3 years ago, physicians felt that iron storage problems in the disease known as hemochromatosis could cause diabetes 1. It is still probably true but it seems not to be the risk that we thought it once was.

The Annals of Internal Medicine August 1st, 2006 had two publications concerning hemochromatosis. This iron storage disease loads excessive iron in the liver, pancreas, heart, joints and endocrine glands resulting in tissue damage that can lead to disease conditions such as cirrhosis, diabetes 1, heart failure, arthropathy and impotence.

The gene that causes disorder was discovered in 1996 and it is known as the C282Y gene. It occurs twice as often in males as females and is thought to be the underlying cause of death in only 0.017 percent of all deaths. Since it is a genetically related disorder, it is well understood that it really only occurs in Caucasians and rarely people of color.

New data emphasizes more than liver damage, cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer of the major problems. Deposition of iron in the islets of Langerhans is the method by which the beta cells are slowly destroyed. Since the treatment is a withdrawal all blood to point of depletion of the iron in the body can expect to have a decreased amount of insulin use when going through the treatment with only results in decreased amounts of insulin.

If it has been discovered in a family it is most important to receive blood withdrawal therapy to help the liver and heart from failure.