Hemochromatosis

A few months back one of my cousins on my dad's side of the family was diagnosed with a genetic disorder called hemochromatosis. It is an excess of iron in the blood. In her family there are 5 other children. A few of them have been tested for it and were also positive for this condition. Their doctors urged them to talk to their families and ask them to be tested. My dad was tested recently at his last physical exam and tested positive. Now this may or may not affect my sister and I. It all depends on whether my mom either has this condition (probably unlikely) or is a carrier of the condition. It does not show up until middle age and it can be deadly but it is quite treatable if it is diagnosed. The treatment is taking blood. I read on the website that I have linked above that in the initial stages after diagnosis sometimes a person needs to give a unit of blood once or twice a week for up to a year until they get the iron levels under control. After that they will give a unit of blood every 3-4 months for the rest of their lives. This can be done at a doctor's office or at a blood donor clinic as long as their blood and health is otherwise okay for donation. I suppose this isn't the worst condition to have in our family, but it's still something to think about. A few weeks ago I was watching a program on tv about this family that has genetic stomach cancer in their family so this whole family (aunts, uncles, cousins and all) had their stomachs removed because the cancer killed some of their other relatives by about age 45. Anway, just some interesting information. The fact that my dad has it means that one of his parents had to have it and the other was a carrier of the gene.