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HemochromatosisA few years back, Ann Miscoi, a 55-year-old preschool teacher in Kokomo, Ind., had a chance to get an inexpensive preventive-health blood-screening test at her school. Though she felt fine, her iron levels turned out to be well above normal. When her doctor seemed unconcerned, Miscoi decided to take her results to a second internist.
This doctor suspected hemochromatosis, a condition in which the body absorbs too much iron from an ordinary diet. The disease is usually inherited but can result from taking high doses of iron pills. Unable to metabolize the excess iron, the body stores it in organs such as the liver and heart. Undetected, iron overload can destroy organs and cause death. That alarmed Miscoi: Her father died of liver disease in his 40s. Sure enough, after genetic testing Miscoi found out that she carried the gene.
Who's at risk. Hemochromatosis is more prevalent in people of Celtic, British and Nordic descent, although it's not restricted to these ethnic groups. Only 2% of Americans with iron overload know they have it.
Symptoms. Joint pain, fatigue, abdominal pain, liver scarring and heart problems. However, like Miscoi, many people have no symptoms when they are diagnosed.
Diagnosis. Simple blood tests can detect an overload of iron, and a DNA test can reveal one's genetic susceptibility. A liver biopsy is the best way to confirm a diagnosis.
Treatment. Remarkably, bloodletting -- also known as phlebotomy -- is the best remedy. If Miscoi continues to have periodic phlebotomies for the rest of her life, she'll be able to keep her hemochromatosis under control.
Aneurysm
Experts have likened aneurysms to time bombs for good reason: You can be symptomless until the faulty blood vessel bursts. The major arteries in the chest and head are the most notorious -- and fatal -- places to have an aneurysm; half of all victims die immediately. However, the prognosis is good for people who have aneurysms removed before they burst, says neurosurgeon Thomas Kopitnik, at Central Wyoming Neurosurgery in Casper.
Who's at risk. About 2 million Americans are walking around with unruptured brain aneurysms, yet many doctors still think of the condition as rare. Aneurysms in the aorta -- the garden-hose-sized artery that runs from the groin to the chest -- figured in 22,000 deaths in 2000. (And it killed 54-year-old actor John Ritter last year.) Artery disease, high blood pressure, smoking and having close relatives who have had aneurysms all raise your risk.
Symptoms. If a brain aneurysm bursts, it causes the instantaneous onset of an unusually severe headache, Kopitnik says. Other symptoms include nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, pain above and behind an eye and stiff neck. Aortic aneurysms announce their presence with crushing chest or abdominal pain.
Diagnosis.Kopitnik offers two pieces of advice: Anybody who suspects a burst aneurysm should get to a vascular neurosurgeon fast. Second, if you are at risk for having an aneurysm, ask your doctor to do an MRI screening.
Treatment. Quick surgery can save a person's life.
Lyme Disease
That bull's-eye rash isn't the reliable indicator we think it is. In fact, the rash isn't always a bull's-eye -- it can be solid red or pink, and darker in people with darker skin. Should the tick get away unnoticed, the Lyme bacterium produces symptoms so vague that doctors and patients can go months without knowing why they're tired all the time, or how they might have suddenly developed arthritis.
Who's at risk. People living in areas where Lyme disease is prevalent (the Northeast, upper Midwest, areas of the Northwest) and especially those who work outdoors or kids who play outdoors in those areas.
Symptoms. Joint pains, muscle aches, loss of appetite, fever, chills, fatigue and other symptoms victims -- and doctors -- may write off as the flu.
Diagnosis. The bull's-eye rash that typically develops three days to one month after a bite from a tick carrying the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is your best bet. But the rash never appears in some infected people and blood tests can be unreliable. Symptoms may provide the best clue.
Treatment. Start with prevention: After being outdoors, always check yourself for ticks. If you're infected, antibiotic therapy can take care of symptoms. But if the disease lurks for several years, you may need several courses of antibiotics.
Hypothyroidism
The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland found just below the Adam's apple. When it fails to make enough thyroid hormone to maintain the body's metabolism, the body starts slowing down. Sufferers gain weight, feel tired, suffer memory lapses -- the symptoms are myriad and confusing.
Who's at risk. Women are five times more likely to develop hypothyroidism than men. Risk increases with pregnancy and age. By age 60 as many as 17% of women have hypothyroidism. Of the 27 million Americans with thyroid disease, about half are undiagnosed, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
Symptoms. Cold intolerance, fatigue, weight gain, heavy periods, hoarse voice, dry skin and hair, memory lapses, loss of energy, depression, sleep difficulties and hair loss.
Diagnosis. A simple blood test can reveal an underactive thyroid.
Treatment. Patients get a daily dose of hormone replacement drugs.
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