May has been declared national Hemochromatosis Awareness Month in Canada. Hereditary hemochromatosis, or HHC, is estimated to affect approximately 80,000 Canadians.
The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society (CHS) is recommending a national protocol to promote more timely diagnosis of hemochromatosis—a treatable genetic disorder that, if undetected, can cause many serious and sometimes, fatal diseases.
“Thousands of Canadians—as well as their doctors—don’t know they have HHC, which represents a significant but largely unacknowledged national health risk,” says Dr. Sam Krikler, a hematopathologist at Surrey Memorial Hospital and chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the CHS.
“The good news is, hemochromatosis is easily treated,” says Dr. Krikler. “The bad news is the diagnosis is often missed or comes too late.”
