"Help, I'm rusting! Is the cry of alarm that Gisele Lafond pushes. The former high-level athlete wants to raise awareness of hemochromatosis. Still very little known, this genetic disease yet affects 1 in 300 people, about 200,000 French! That is why Gisèle Lafond is mobilizing with the Association Hemochromatosis France (AHF) to make known this potentially fatal disease and invite people to be screened.

What is hemochromatosis?

Hemochromatosis causes excessive intestinal absorption of iron in food, which causes a progressive buildup of iron in all organs of the body. A person with hemochromatosis absorbs 5 to 10 mg of iron, against 1 to 2 mg for a "normal" person. This inherited genetic disease is due to the mutation of the HFE gene.

What are the symptoms of hemochromatosis?

At the age of 35, symptoms are limited to joint pain (wrists, elbows, knees ...), sexual disorders (early menopause, amenorrhea, loss of libido, erectile dysfunction ...) or heart problems. But if the patient does not get tested before age 50, its symptoms are complicated: osteoporosis, diabetes, rheumatism, melanoderma (grayish coloring of the skin) or even cancer! Some patients suffer from nail deformation or decreased hair growth (hair loss).

How to detect hemochromatosis?

Screening for hemochromatosis takes place in two phases: a blood test to analyze the ferritin level (the iron storage protein) and the saturation factor of transferrin (beta iron globulin transport), then a genetic test. The screening for hemochromatosis can be taken care of by the Health Insurance under certain conditions.

How is the treatment of hemochromatosis?

At first bleeding is necessary weekly (between 300 and 500 ml of blood removed) to remove the overflow of iron in the red blood cells until desaturation. Then the rhythm of bleeding is spaced every 2 to 3 months to maintain ferritinemia under 50 ng / ml (500 ml of withdrawn blood can eliminate 250 mg of iron).

For any further information, the members of the Association Hemochromatose France hold a hotline from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 18:00. You can reach them on 04 66 64 52 22 and 09 75 49 14 52. More information on the website www.hemochromatose.fr or on the Facebook page of the AHF .