SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Hemochromatosis Awareness Month

Honourable senators, I rise today to bring awareness to a very important genetic disorder called hemochromatosis. I’ve spoken of it a number of times in this chamber. Because awareness is the cure, I speak of it again today.

This is a condition that causes a retention of iron in the body, with affected individuals absorbing up to four times the iron that healthy people absorb. Left undiagnosed, the accumulated iron will cause damage to joints and organs. If left untreated, hemochromatosis is fatal.

For a person with hemochromatosis, there is an inability to get rid of excess iron. It’s important to receive medical treatment for this condition. I know this all too well as I suffer from this genetic disorder.

One in 300 Canadians have this condition. More than 125,000 people in Canada may be on the path to severe organ damage due to iron overload. It is believed only 20 per cent of those with hemochromatosis know that they have it.

There is no cure for hemochromatosis, only treatment. Therefore, the solution is early detection. Once a diagnosis is made, treatment for the disorder can reduce or eliminate most of the severe complications, which include arthritis, diabetes, heart failure, dementia, cirrhosis of the liver and cancer.

The remedy is simple: frequent and regular removals of blood. The removal of the iron-rich blood allows for the bone marrow’s production of fresh, iron-free blood, thereby diluting the blood-iron content.

There are instances where entire families have the condition. In most of those instances they are unaware. Those affected in rural and remote regions must travel hundreds of kilometres to undergo testing and receive treatment.

The burden of undiagnosed hemochromatosis in Canada results in avoidable costs to the health care system, premature chronic diseases, financial loss to families due to disability and the preventable loss of loved ones.

Over the years, I have worked closely with the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society to bring awareness to this condition in the hope it helps educate and prevent many from unnecessary suffering.

The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society has a clear vision: To end suffering and premature death related to hemochromatosis in Canada. On their website, they have a self-assessment tool that can help determine if you are at risk for hereditary hemochromatosis.

Colleagues, I encourage all of you, as well as all Canadians, to take the self-assessment test as it can literally save your life.

The good news, colleagues, is that hemochromatosis is easily treated. However, the bad news is the diagnosis is often missed or comes too late. Awareness is truly the only cure.

May is National Hemochromatosis Awareness Month in Canada. Please join me during the month of May and, indeed, year round to bring awareness to this potentially fatal condition.

Thank you.