Study Recommends Testing for Excess Iron

Researchers are recommending routine blood tests for excess iron, which can produce a disorder that puts people at increased risk for diabetes, cirrhosis, chronic fatigue and heart disease.

Routine screening for hemochromatosis, a common but under-diagnosed hereditary disorder, would save more lives than screening for cholesterol levels, said Dr. Pradyumna Phatak, chief of hematology and medical oncology at Rochester General Hospital.

The tests cost about $15 and would save billions of dollars in health care costs, said Phatak, the chief researcher of a four-year study of hemochromatosis involving 16,031 Rochester patients.

The findings were reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The disorder causes the bowel to absorb too much iron--as much as twice the amount that it should. The mineral is then stored in the liver, pituitary, heart, pancreas and other organ systems that can later be overwhelmed and damaged.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not yet willing to recommend widespread screenings for the disorder.

However, doctors should “increase their index of suspicion” and be more aware of how to diagnose hemochromatosis, said Dr. Sharon McDonnell, a CDC epidemiologist.