What Is Carbohydrate Malabsorption? Carbohydrate malabsorption is a digestive disorder characterized by the inability to properly digest and absorb carbohydrates within the small intestine to supply needed energy to the body. Q: What carbohydrates should be normally…
What Is Macrocytosis?Macrocytosis is a blood cell disorder characterized by altered blood cell formation that results in abnormally large erythrocytes (red blood cells) circulating in the bloodstream.
The mean corpuscular volume (MCV), which is a measure of the size of red blood cells in the bloodstream, is greater than 100 fL as shown in a complete blood count (CBC) laboratory analysis report.
Macrocytosis produces macrocytic anemias that are classified as megaloblastic or non-megaloblastic:
Hemochromatosis, also called iron overload liver disease, is a common inherited disease in the Caucasian population that is characterized by increased iron deposition within the tissues (overload) associated with injury to them.
Hemochromatosis is an autosomal recessive disease, meaning a pair of abnormal genes are inherited from each parent. Parents are unaffected because they carry only one gene.
Q: Where is iron deposited?
A: In hemochromatosis, more iron is absorbed from the small intestine than is needed by the body. Subsequently, because the body has no satisfactory means to release iron overload, excess iron is deposited in various organs such as the liver causing cirrhosis, joints causing arthritis, and the pancreas causing diabetes mellitus.1
Consumption of alcoholic drinks with food should be avoided because alcohol increases leaky gut and greatly increases the absorption of iron. On the flip side, eggs and foods containing calcium such as milk and cheese are beneficial for hemochromatosis because they impair the absorption of iron. Another iron inhibitor is food that contains phytic acid which includes the bran and outer layer of grains, seeds, nuts, peas, beans, and lentils.
Iron overloading, as measured by a random (non-fasting) elevated transferrin saturation value, is estimated to occur in 1 to 6 people per 100 in the United States according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Too much iron increases the risk for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, liver disease, and osteoporosis.
Medical treatment to remove excess iron from the body uses phlebotomy that draws blood through a vein and/or certain injectable drugs (deferoxamine and deferairox) that bind to iron.
The level of glucose in blood is too low to meet metabolic needs of the body for glucose.
The level of potassium in the bloodstream is too low to meet metabolic needs of the body for this mineral.
A thyroid disease characterized by insufficient thyroid hormone circulating in the body due to autoimmune destruction of thyroid tissue.
A parathyroid disorder characterized by excessive secretion of parathyroid hormone by one or more parathyroid glands for more than 6 months.
