What is Haemochromatosis?
Haemochromatosis means excess of iron in the body.
Iron is needed in the diet to maintain good health, particularly for making red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body. These red blood cells contain large amounts of iron. These are the Qi and body fluid coordinations in the body.
Lack of iron can cause anaemia but excessive iron is toxic. The body has few ways of disposing of unwanted iron, so it builds up in tissues causing damage and disease like Liver complications, Kidney and Brain complications.
Too much of Iron may be caused by increased absorption of iron from the intestine even when the body does not require it. This is called primary iron overload. This is usually caused by an inherited abnormality known as hereditary haemochromatosis.