The hereditary hemochroma is a condition that can result in serious liver disease, liver cancer and other serious health issues
Early diagnosis and effective treatment are necessary to avoid complications from the condition.
Inherited hemochroma occurs when your blood contains more than one chromosome from the same or different families. When this occurs, it can lead to a variety of conditions including hemolytic anemia and hematopoietic carcinoma. If you have a family history of hereditary hemochroma, you should talk to your physician about testing for hereditary hemochroma.
There are three blood tests used to diagnose hereditary hemochrome. All three are conducted by a panel of experts that include your physician, a genetics expert and a pathologist specializing in the treatment of diseases caused by heredity.
The most common and accurate test for hereditary hemochroma is the DNA blood test. This test will show if you have more than one copy of a chromosome from a particular gene. In most cases, if the results are positive, you will be tested for the disease. There is no cure for heredity, but the disease can be managed and life expectancy increased.
Your hematology specialist uses a combination of results from your blood tests to determine if you have the disease. If all results are positive, your specialist will perform a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. If the results are negative, he may refer you to another physician that specializes in the treatment of hematopoietic cancer.
If tests confirm the diagnosis, you will be offered a treatment plan to address your symptoms and the underlying cause. You will receive medications and nutritional supplements, as well as non-surgical treatments to remove tumors or diseased tissue from affected areas. Surgery to remove a tumor (s) in a hematopoietic cancer is rarely performed, but it can be performed to remove a kidney or other organ.
Treatment for hematopoietic cancer usually involves the use of drugs that block the enzymes responsible for the production of fibrin, a fibrous protein in the blood that has been shown to cause cancer. Hematopoiesis treatment also helps prevent cancer from spreading to other parts of the body. Treatment of a disease is usually incomplete unless the entire cause of the disease is eliminated.
Although the risk of developing hematopoietic cancer is high, there is some evidence that genetic hemochrome cannot be inherited from parents. If your blood tests show no trace of the gene, your doctor may rule out the possibility that the disease is also hereditary. An alternative is to use a blood test to confirm the disease in another family member.
If the tests are positive, the doctor may also do a blood cell test to determine if hemochromatosis is present. Hemochromatosis can be diagnosed by the presence of multiple abnormal red blood cells and by pale or purplish red spots on affected blood cells. There are no normal white blood cell abnormalities.
Many patients are prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to reduce pain and inflammation and reduce the likelihood of irreversible liver and kidney damage. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are usually used for short-term relief and may be accompanied by changes in diet and lifestyle. This medication is usually taken for a long time for chronic hemopoiesis.
Radiation therapy options are also available to treat hematopoietic cancers that are in the primary tumor. If you have hemochromatosis, your doctor may recommend surgery or chemotherapy to help kill the cancerous cells.
Surgery or chemotherapy treatments are usually given in conjunction with treatment of hematopoietic cancer. Radiation therapy is generally reserved for patients who are not responding well to diet and non-surgical therapy.