Hemochromatosis can kill you dead if undetected.
Have you been feeling weak or tired all the time?
Do your joints hurt? Skin turning a bronze color?

If so, you better alert your doctor.
A complete physical must be performed.
I know it’s a bummer but better than kicking the bucket.

Your examination must include:

Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC) and Serum Iron (SI).
Divide the SI by TIBC for percentage of Transferrin Saturation TS.
Normal range is: 12-45%.

The same blood may be used to measure Serum Ferritin.
Normal range: 5 to 150.

Learn more about hemochromatosis here

Mostly men contract the disease for some unknown reason.
Usually around age 40. The disease seems to be most prevalent in Europeans.
Rare in black folks.

Your goal is to prevent liver cancer, heart attack or stroke. Do that by unloading stored iron as quickly as possible. Objective: ferritin below 10.

Any blood relatives must be tested and monitored yearly.

Iron will cross the blood brain barrier. Excess iron stored in the brain has been found to elevate severity in Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s, Parkinson’s, MS, and other diseases. Iron in the brain also leads to psychological problems.

If you have any of the above symptoms, make an appointment with your primary care physician immediately. The longer you put off testing, the more damage to your liver will result if you have hemochromatosis.