Who's at risk for hemochromatosis?

Although hemochromatosis occasionally results from another disease or condition that leads to excess iron in the body, it most often is inherited. That's known as hereditary, classical or primary hemochromatosis.

With the disorder, a faulty gene (usually an HFE gene) causes the body to absorb too much iron.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who inherit a copy of the faulty gene from each parent are at risk for the disease. Those who inherit one faulty HFE gene along with a normal one are considered a hemochromatosis carrier. Though unlikely to develop the disorder themselves, carriers can pass on the faulty gene to their offspring.

If both parents are carriers of the faulty gene, their children have a one in four chance of inheriting two faulty genes. Not everyone with two faulty genes, however, develops symptoms of the disease.

About 10 percent of people in the United States are hemochromatosis carriers, according to the CDC.

The CDC also reports that:

• Hemochromatosis is uncommon in Hispanics, Asians, blacks and American Indians. It's most prevalent among whites of Northern European descent.
• It's more common in men than women and in older people than in younger ones. In men, symptoms usually occur between ages 40 and 60; in women, they generally don't occur until after menopause. Young children can develop the disease, but that's rare.
• Other risk factors include alcoholism and a family history of such diseases as heart attack, liver disease, diabetes, arthritis and impotence.