Hemochromatosis is one of the most commonly inherited blood diseases. It is very commonplace in people from the British Isles but other people also have it. It is an excess of iron in the blood and takes a special blood test to show it. My younger son and his son have it and goes monthly (or should) to have blood taken and it is thrown away. Now my older son has been diagnosed with it and he had the treatment but next month he will have tests to see if he has liver damage from it. The iron lodges in organs, frequently in the liver. That is why people who are not drinkers will have cirohsis. This can kill you!! Women rarely have it because they pass it off through their periods but they can pass it to their children as I did. In order to have it both parents must carry the gene or chromosome. As you can see, I am not a medical person but a very concerned parent. Just google it and see what information is available. Please mention it to your medical doctor when you have a checkup. Better safe than sorry. Rita

Rita... Just a note to basically confirm what you have said about Hemochromatosis. I have been told that it is the mother that passes on the genes, as my husband has it and in olden days it was called the bronze disease. I hope you son hasn't had any liver damage and I am a bit surprised that it has been diagnosed in boys so young. Our doctor told my husband that it is usually found around the age of 40 as it was with my husband. Just so you will know, as long as you stay on top of it, your boys should be ok for some time...but it could well be that they may need liver transplants as they get older. When it was discovered in my husband who was around 40, our doctor told us that he would need a transplant in time and he was right. It took about 20 years and he began to go down hill in his late 50's and it took some time until he was sick enough to have the transplant. I believe he was on the actual list about a year. The doctors go by the blood numbers and when they get to a certain point, they know. We were very lucky as he got the liver in time and has had no liver related problems or any rejection. There will be side effects from the transplant and as our surgeon tells us....your liver is great, but other things begin to give you trouble and he is right. I don't mean to say that he is very ill, but he did get diabetes after the transplant which happens sometimes.. We do have that basically under control, but it has affected his eyes and they are treating one now and hope he doesn't lose the sight in it completely. I wish your family well and hope that your sons will continue to stay with the doctors. I would suggest that you find a hospital in your area that does liver transplants and find a GI doctor who is recommended by the transplant surgeons to make a general examination of your sons and if down the line they need help, the hospital will be aware of them and will be able to help. We are lucky that we live in the Boston area and there are three or four hospitals that do transplants. We went through New England Medical Center and we naturally favor that one. Our GI doctor is there and has treated my husband now for nearly 30 years and now if he needs any major problem looked at, we have it done there as they have every type of specialist that is needed...nice to have that all under one roof. We now have doctors in about five departments who keep an eye on him and are always available if we need them. If you should ever need any information, don't hesitate to contact me. Thankfully, with all the improvements that are out there now, your sons should be ok for some time to come. Best from Boston, Maureen Maloney At 09:53 AM 10/25/2006, you wrote: >Hemochromatosis is one of the most commonly inherited blood diseases. It is >very commonplace in people from the British Isles but other people also have >it. It is an excess of iron in the blood and takes a special blood test to >show it. My younger son and his son have it and goes monthly (or >should) to have >blood taken and it is thrown away. Now my older son has been diagnosed with >it and he had the treatment but next month he will have tests to see >if he has >liver damage from it. > >The iron lodges in organs, frequently in the liver. That is why people who >are not drinkers will have cirohsis. This can kill you!! Women >rarely have it >because they pass it off through their periods but they can pass it to their >children as I did. In order to have it both parents must carry the gene or >chromosome. As you can see, I am not a medical person but a very concerned >parent. Just google it and see what information is available. > >Please mention it to your medical doctor when you have a checkup. Better >safe than sorry. > >Rita > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >FIANNA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message