Editing Hereditary haemochromatosis (section)

===End-organ damage===

Iron is stored in the liver, pancreas and heart.
Long-term effects of haemochromatosis on these organs can be serious, even fatal when untreated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemochromatosis/DS00455/DSECTION=6 |title=Hemochromatosis: Complications |work=Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER) |access-date=17 March 2007 |archive-date=7 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307063708/http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemochromatosis/DS00455/DSECTION=6 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the liver is a primary storage area for iron and naturally accumulates excess iron over time, it is likely to be damaged by iron overload.
Toxins may accumulate in the blood and eventually affect mental functioning due to increased risk of [[hepatic encephalopathy]].
Together, they can increase the risk of liver cancer to one in three persons.

If excess iron in the heart interferes with its ability to circulate enough blood, a number of problems can occur, including (potentially fatal) [[congestive heart failure]]. The condition may be reversible when haemochromatosis is treated and excess iron stores are reduced. [[Arrhythmia]] or abnormal heart rhythm can cause heart palpitations, chest pain, and light-headedness, and is occasionally life-threatening. This condition can often be reversed with treatment.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

The pancreas, which also stores iron, is very important in the body's mechanisms for sugar [[metabolism]]. [[Diabetes]] affects the way the body uses blood sugar ([[glucose]]), and diabetes is, in turn, the leading cause of new blindness in adults and may be involved in [[kidney failure]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hong |first1=Jingyao |last2=Surapaneni |first2=Aditya |last3=Daya |first3=Natalie |last4=Selvin |first4=Elizabeth |last5=Coresh |first5=Josef |last6=Grams |first6=Morgan E. |last7=Ballew |first7=Shoshana H. |date=2021-07-07 |title=Retinopathy and Risk of Kidney Disease in Persons With Diabetes |journal=Kidney Medicine |volume=3 |issue=5 |pages=808–815.e1 |doi=10.1016/j.xkme.2021.04.018 |issn=2590-0595 |pmc=8515075 |pmid=34693260}}</ref>

Haemochromatosis may lead to [[cirrhosis]] and its complications, including bleeding from dilated veins in the [[esophagus]] ([[esophageal varices]]) and [[stomach]] ([[gastric varices]]) and severe fluid retention in the [[abdomen]] ([[ascites]]).
Severity of [[periodontal disease]] is associated with high [[transferrin saturation]] in haemochromatosis patients.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Meuric |first1=Vincent |last2=Lainé |first2=Fabrice |last3=Boyer |first3=Emile |last4=Le Gall-David |first4=Sandrine |last5=Oger |first5=Emmanuel |last6=Bourgeois |first6=Denis |last7=Bouchard |first7=Philippe |last8=Bardou-Jacquet |first8=Edouard |last9=Turmel |first9=Valérie |last10=Bonnaure-Mallet |first10=Martine |last11=Deugnier |first11=Yves |title=Periodontal status and serum biomarker levels in HFE haemochromatosis patients. A case-series study |journal=Journal of Clinical Periodontology |date=September 2017 |volume=44 |issue=9 |pages=892–897 |doi=10.1111/jcpe.12760 |pmid=28586532 |s2cid=35455901 |url=https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01614700/file/Meuric%20et%20al.%20-%20Periodontal%20status%20and%20serum%20biomarker%20levels%20in%20H.pdf |access-date=22 May 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720213547/https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01614700/file/Meuric%20et%20al.%20-%20Periodontal%20status%20and%20serum%20biomarker%20levels%20in%20H.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boyer |first1=Emile |last2=Le Gall-David |first2=Sandrine |last3=Martin |first3=Bénédicte |last4=Fong |first4=Shao Bing |last5=Loréal |first5=Olivier |last6=Deugnier |first6=Yves |last7=Bonnaure-Mallet |first7=Martine |last8=Meuric |first8=Vincent |title=Increased transferrin saturation is associated with subgingival microbiota dysbiosis and severe periodontitis in genetic haemochromatosis |journal=Scientific Reports |date=December 2018 |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=15532 |doi=10.1038/s41598-018-33813-0 |pmid=30341355 |pmc=6195524 |bibcode=2018NatSR...815532B }}</ref>