What are the symptoms of too much iron in the blood?

What happens if you have high iron levels in blood?

Excess iron builds up the heart, liver, joints, pancreas, and pituitary gland. If untreated, it can cause organ damage, and lead to a heart attack, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, depression, and premature death. The mutated gene for hemochromatosis can be passed on to your offspring.

How do you get rid of excess iron in your body?

What foods to avoid if iron is high?

What is the most common cause of iron overload?

An inherited genetic change is the most common cause. It's called primary hemochromatosis, hereditary hemochromatosis or classical hemochromatosis. With primary hemochromatosis, problems with the DNA come from both parents and cause the body to absorb too much iron.

Hemochromatosis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

What are warning signs of hemochromatosis?

What is the life expectancy of someone with hemochromatosis?

Most people with hemochromatosis have a normal life expectancy. Survival may be shortened in people who are not treated and develop cirrhosis or diabetes mellitus.

Can too much iron make you dizzy?

Iron supplements can cause side effects like dizziness, fainting, and hives. Too many iron supplements can cause long-term side effects like liver damage and heart disease.

Are eggs high in iron?

Low iron levels are a common concern for blood donors, so you might be wondering if eggs are a good source of iron to help you out. Fortunately, eggs are a great source of iron, protein and other essential vitamins.

Can turmeric lower iron levels?

Turmeric is one of the BEST nutritional supplements shown by clinical research to reduce iron build-up in the body. Most significantly, turmeric can lower ferritin by chelating iron from the body.

Does hemochromatosis cause weight gain?

Hemochromatosis may cause belly pain, weakness, tiredness, and weight loss.

Does hemochromatosis affect sleep?

Many patients also have periodic limb movements in sleep (PLMS), and they may complain of insomnia and/or hypersomnia. Hereditary haemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive disease of iron metabolism in which increased intestinal absorption of iron leads to iron deposition in multiple organs.

What triggers hemochromatosis?

Haemochromatosis is caused by a faulty gene that can be passed on to a child by their parents. Most cases are linked to a fault in a gene called HFE, which affects your ability to absorb iron from food. Normally, your body maintains a steady level of iron.

Can hemochromatosis affect the eyes?

Clinical Relevance. Ocular manifestations of hemochromatosis may cause visual changes such as diminished visual acuity due to pathological changes in the cornea and retina.

Does high iron make you tired?

Sufferers may experience a range of symptoms including fatigue, joint pain, weakness, weight loss and abdominal pain. Over time, the excess iron accumulates in specific areas of the body, eventually causing damage to tissues and organs including the liver and heart.

Does hemochromatosis cause joint pain?

Symptoms. Symptoms of hereditary hemochromatosis often appear in midlife. Early symptoms may be nonspecific and often include joint pain, fatigue and weakness.

Is itching a symptom of hemochromatosis?

If the skin is heavily affected it can become a slate grey in colour. Patients also report diminished facial, pubic and axillary hair, and there can be dryness and itchiness to varying degrees.

Can hemochromatosis cause foot pain?

Most patients with symptomatic arthropathy of hemochromatosis present with chronic, indolent pain and joint stiffness; bony enlargement; and minimal signs of inflammation. Hemochromatosis may involve the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints, wrists, knees, hips, feet, and shoulders.

What organs are affected by hemochromatosis?

Hemochromatosis causes or exacerbates arthritis, diabetes, impotence, heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. The liver is the organ most affected by hemochromatosis, because of its relatively large blood flow.

Can too much iron cause leg pain?

Most Common Iron Overload Symptoms

Symptoms of hemochromatosis range from mild to severe and can occur daily or periodically. The two most prominent hemochromatosis symptoms are: Pain – Iron overload hurts. Nearly all individuals will experience some degree of joint, muscle, or body pain.

Can hemochromatosis affect your brain?

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), characterized by systemic iron loading, usually does not involve the CNS, and only sporadic cases of neurological abnormalities or brain-MRI T2/T2*GRE-hypointensity have been reported.

Can haemochromatosis cause restless legs?

In idiopathic RLS it is central nervous system (CNS) iron storage that may be impaired, while the systemic iron may be normal. The discordance between systemic and CNS iron is demonstrated by the observation that patients with hemochromatosis (iron overload disease) may develop RLS.

Does hemochromatosis cause bloating?

Left untreated, hemochromatosis can be a serious condition that should be evaluated immediately in an emergency setting. Seek immediate medical care (call 911) if you, or someone you are with, have any of these serious symptoms including: Abdominal swelling, distention or bloating.

Does hemochromatosis cause cough?

Hemosiderosis often doesn't cause symptoms. Over time, however, if there is an accumulation of hemosiderin in your organs, you may notice: coughing (with blood, in severe cases) difficulty breathing.

Can hemochromatosis be cured?

There's currently no cure for haemochromatosis, but there are treatments that can reduce the amount of iron in your body. This can help relieve some of the symptoms and reduce the risk of damage to organs such as the heart, liver and pancreas.