The liver is one of the largest organs in your body. It performs many important jobs including storing vitamins and minerals, changing food sugars (carbohydrates) into energy, digesting food by breaking down fats, and filtering harmful substances from the blood.
Liver disease is one of the most common complications of iron overload. People with iron overload may have:
- Cirrhosis, an inflammation (or swelling) that causes permanent scarring
- Liver failure
- High risk for liver cancer
Signs of cirrhosis include feeling tired, nausea, or feeling sick to your stomach, weight loss that is unexplained, swelling of the stomach or legs, or a yellow tint (jaundice) in the skin and the whites of the eyes.
People can have iron overload and have no symptoms. Other people may mistake the signs and symptoms of iron overload for other conditions. For this reason, people with iron overload often don't know they have it until they have serious health problems.
If you've had or are having blood transfusions, be sure to ask your doctor about iron overload and how it may affect your liver. A simple blood test called the serum ferritin test can tell your doctor how much iron is in your body. If your serum ferritin level continues to be over 1000 mcg/L (micrograms per liter), you have iron overload and should talk with your doctor about treatment options.
