Hemochromatosis
A project by lerrin kankel
Basic information
Hemochromatosis is when there is to much iron in the body. Any one can get this disease. It is also known as iron overload.
Characteristics
Symptoms are abdominal pain, fatigue, darkening of skin, joint pain and weakness. Most people have a normal life expectancy. Everyday you would probably have joint pain and fatigue.
Cause
One mutation changes one of the protein building blocks to make HFE protein. Another mutation replaces amino acid cytosine with tyrosine. It is on chromosome 6. The name of the gene is HFE.
Treatment
One treatment is called Erapeutic phlebotomy where they remove blood and iron from the body. Another treatment is Iron chelation therapy where they use medicine to remove excess iron. There really is no cure for hemochromatosis just treatment.
Other facts
Hemochromatosis affects 1 in every 200 people in the U.S. Symptoms can occur in women over 50 and men ages 30 to 50 . Men are more likely to get the disease more then women. The disease gets its name from "Hemo" meaning blood and "Chroma" meaning color.