May is Hemochromatosis Awareness Month. People with hemochromatosis absorb too much iron. Untreated, iron build up can possibly lead to many serious diseases of the liver and heart, diabetes, and arthritis.
Once considered rare, the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society estimates that 1 in 9 Canadians are carriers, and 1 in 300 could have the two copies of the gene that puts them at risk for developing hemochromatosis. It is especially common in people with Northern European ancestry, which includes many P.E.I. residents.
It was only because a cousin alerted me to her diagnosis that I asked my doctor if the extreme fatigue I was experiencing in 2015 could be caused by hemochromatosis, and it was. After a year of monthly visits to the great staff at Prince County Hospital’s nursing suite for phlebotomies (the drawing of an amount of blood similar to what someone would give at a blood donor clinic), my blood levels are normal and the fatigue is gone.
The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society did awareness-raising work on P.E.I. in 2013, and at that time Health Minister Doug Currie asked Health P.E.I. staff to look at testing guidelines and education programs for the public and medical professionals. The diseases caused by hemochromatosis are not only life-altering for the individual, they are costly to the health system. There is no need for anyone to suffer from the serious effects of iron overload.
The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society have an informative website at toomuchiron.ca. I encourage everyone to educate themselves about this disorder.
Thelma Phillips,
Foxley River
