European Week of Hemacromatosis

Europe will celebrate the Haemochromatosis European week from 3 to 9 June 2013 with several activities that aim to raise awareness to this disease.

Haemochromatosis is a genetic disease mostly defined as iron overload.

Hereditary haemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive disorder that results from a mutated hemochromatosis (HFE) protein. This disease is characterized by an accelerated rate of iron absorption and progressive iron deposition in various tissues that typically begins to be expressed in the third to fifth decades of life. The most common presentation is hepatic cirrhosis in combination with hypopituitarism, cardiomyopathy, diabetes, arthritis, or hyperpigmentation. Because of the severe sequelae of this disease if left untreated, and recognizing that treatment is relatively simple (regularly scheduled phlebotomies), early diagnosis before symptoms or signs appear is very important.

This disease is frequent in the European population (specially in Northern Europe), with estimate prevalence in the European population of between 5 and 10 in 1000 persons.

In Portugal, the Associação Portuguesa de Hemocromatose, the IBMC and the Câmara Municipal de Espinho, joined efforts in the organization of a series of activities to celebrate in Portugal the Haemochromatosis European Week.

Please check the programme and join the Haemochromatosis European Week.