Hemachromatosis?

[milesymommy]

Hemachromatosis is a fairly common condition - usually inherited - where the body absorbs more iron than it should. This, in turn, can lead to heart and liver issues. Problems usually don't develop in men until 30-50 yrs old, and with women, after menopause. My uncle has it, and my sister has it. Most of my life I've had high iron. I'm going to ask to get tested for it. I wonder if this condition predisposes women for HELLP? Does anyone know of any link between them?

[tree]

I don't know if there is a link, but this isn't the first time someone has asked about it. I can't remember when or who, but if you can get the search function to work, you might be able to find something. It seems like a reasonable thing to get tested for. IIRC, the standard treatment is regular blood donation, which is a win/win for you and the blood bank.

[milesymommy]

The Red Cross currently won't take blood that is being donated for "treatment" reasons, except in select cities. IMO, it's really stupid. The Red Cross opinion has been that you can only donate for altruistic reasons, even though they agree there's nothing wrong with the blood. My sister has to have bloodletting done once a month... I've never asked if it gets donated to a blood bank.
I get seen tomorrow, hopefully they'll test. Since I have a direct relative that has it, standard procedure would be to test. It might explain all the fatigue I've had as of late.