Iron overload disease
While not recommended as a general screen, screening for iron overload disease is recommended based on known risk factors.
The most common of the known genetic disorders in the UK, hereditary haemochromatosis, or iron overload disease, causes the iron from a person’s diet to accumulate in the body’s organs. Over a lifetime and without treatment, serious and even fatal health effects can result.
The NHS UK National Screening Committee policy position (March 2003) is that on the basis of present evidence population screening for haemochromatosis should not be recommended, but that the evidence should be reviewed within two years. Offspring and relatives of known cases are at risk and should be screened.
The disease can be screened for using one of two blood tests: transferrin iron saturation percentage and serum ferritin. The DNA test and a liver biopsy are also recommended by some organizations but not by others for various reasons. For more information on testing for this disease, visit the
Haemochromatosis Society.
