Treatment of Hemochromatosis

The proven treatment for Hemochromatosis is a course of phlebotomies. This consists of drawing a unit of blood in the same manner as if one was participating in a regular blood donation. Depending on how severe the iron loading is, one could initially require a phlebotomy as often as twice a week for up to two years before ones ferritin levels come down far enough; ideally below 50 for them to be out of danger and back to reasonable health. Through out treatment, the total blood chemistry needs to be fully monitored to ensure that other vitamins, minerals and nutrients are maintained at safe levels to prevent secondary problems

After ones levels are down, they go onto what is termed "maintenance". This is when the person goes for a
phlebotomy often enough to keep their Ferritin levels down within acceptable limits. For some, this could be once every month. For others, the interval could be as long as 6 months or a year. It takes trial and error as well as some experimenting to arrive at the optimum interval for each individual.

The governing criteria for treatment is dependant on what criteria the attending physician uses for guidelines. This tends to vary from one physician to the next as well as from one region to another. The major problem is a lack of "Standardized" guidelines or protocols for them to refer to and also to out dated information that still insists that Hemochromatosis is a rare condition.

Once the diagnosis is made, most people will in a knee jerk reaction, also try to cut down their dietary iron intake by restricting their diet. There is a real and serious danger in doing this because of the potential of severely reducing the intake of other vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are essential to good health and hard to get in other ways.
Contrary to what some "authorities" claim, the iron contained in the majority of dark green vegetables is not readily absorbed into the body due to the molecular structure, which is different than that of the iron bearing meat. If you wish to eat red meat, do so in moderation but do your best to avoid "organ" meats such as the heart, liver, and kidneys as these contain the highest amounts of readily absorbable dietary iron. Try to avoid vitamin C within two hours of a meal. It is guilty of helping the body absorb iron much more
efficiently. Another way to reduce the iron absorption is by drinking tea with your meals.

http://www.cdnhemochromatosis.ca/forums/phpbb/viewtopic.php

http://www.hemochromatosis.co.uk/0407/tea.pdf

Watch your breakfast cereals as some of these can and may contain up to 60% of your daily recommended iron intake per serving.
There should be a law against this but we are still in the age where iron fortification is the accepted standard and very few of the "authorities" will concede any different. There are "health sites on the web that are "reputable" that erroneously advocate increased iron intake to improve almost every facet of life. There are "student health sites" written by school boards that are aimed at high school students and suggest the most common ailment among students is low iron levels. They encourage large doses of iron supplements without a word of advise to check with the family doctor.

The best advice is a well rounded diet with out any extremes. Watch your iron intake carefully but do your best to make sure that you get proper nutrition and that will help avoid any secondary problems. Take a good multi-vitamin if you feel the need. There are some that don't contain any iron. (Most commonly the over 50 line but even some of them have a high iron content.)

There are other ways to treat Hemochromatosis but they are not as effective as therapeutic phlebotomies. They are Chelating agents and are used for patients who cannot tolerate phlebotomies. Some of them will reduce body iron stores. However, toxicity is a major concern and they are inconvenient to administer because they must be injected subcutaneously over several hours. Because of these factors, they are prescribed only as a last resort.

Research with newer versions of chelators and other forms of medication is ongoing and in the future, patients with Hemochromatosis may have other options for the type of treatment that is best for them.