The only reason that i know of is very high iron levels...When you have too much iron it settles in your organs and damages them.. There is a genetic disorder that one in every 500,000 americans carry.
this disorder is called hemochromatosis. the only treatment for this is phlebotomy..aka blood removal..The doctors remove blood on a weekly basis until your iron level fall to low normal, which is approximately 10.5-11 grams per decilitre.More than 300 hundred is considered as an emergency..After that you will probably need to donate blood every two months or removed once every month for the rest of your life... btw bloodbanks will love the high iron in your blood.Drawing blood is the only treatment..
You are lucky your doctor is doing it because I live in canada and am having a terrible time trying to get treatment..
My iron levels are 1660 grams.scary number.unfortunately since my high iron levels are caused by smoking and a bout of mono the specialist I need to see to get referred to the phlebotomy clinic won't take me..My doctor is getting mad at the system because my organs are being damaged right now and i can't seem to get treatment until i have a heart attack or liver failure or something else equally bad..then the hospital will take me...
Smoking can cause high iron levels because the tobacco companies add iron and magnesium in cigarettes to affect the way smoke flows out of them into the air.
Mono causes high iron because it attacks the spleen. The spleentakes care of red blood cells and when it is not working the iron in them is not removed.
You should find out if yours is genetic because if it is then one of your parents have it,one of your grandparents, possibly your kids,aunts and uncles, and cousins.
Men are not usually tested for iron and don't find out until they have a heart attack or something..women lose blood during their period and don't usually show up with high iron until after menopause.
When the gene will express it self is different for everyone. On rare occasions it does so in child sometimes in middle age, sometimes old age and sometimes it doesn't at all.So annual physicals that include iron tests are very important. One in every 200,000 irishmen have the gene .
