If your Hemoglobin is too low,you may be anemic.What it is too high what is that indicates?

Question

I can not find any answer in health publications.

Answer 1

It is called hemochromatosis my son has it.Here is some information I cut & pasted for you but check out the web site at the bottom too.
Good Luck......

Early Symptoms
Symptoms may begin anywhere from age 40 to 60, although in some rare cases they occur as early as 20. Early symptoms of hereditary hemochromatosis include:

Weakness
Fatigue
Apathy
Abdominal pain
General muscle aches
Loss of libido
Impotence (men)
Cessation of monthly menstrual cycles (women)
Joint pain
Shortness of breath on exertion
Increased skin pigmentation (a bronze color)
Loss of body hair
Unexplained weight loss
During a physical examination, a doctor might also note an enlarged liver (called hepatomegaly) and increased skin pigmentation, which indicates the early stages of the disease. If the disease is diagnosed at this stage, treatment can begin that will reduce the chances of getting other, more serious complications.

Later Symptoms
If hemochromatosis remains undiagnosed and untreated, iron will continue to build up in the organs. Other more serious health problems can develop, including diabetes mellitus (from iron in the pancreas), cardiomyopathy (a stiff heart that doesn’t function efficiently, due to iron buildup in the heart), liver dysfunction, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Cirrhosis of the liver can lead to liver cancer, which occurs in about 10 to 30 percent of men who have cirrhosis due to hemochromatosis. Unfortunately, if hemochromatosis is diagnosed at this late stage, it does not respond to treatment as well because organs have already been damaged.

However, if the diagnosis is made before liver cirrhosis develops, life expectancy is normal, and with treatment, almost all other complications of iron overload can be reversed or stopped from progressing.

What Is Iron Overload?
How does a build up of iron cause all of these health problems? Iron is essential for the body to conduct many necessary functions. In disorders like anemia, for example, people don’t have enough iron and need to take iron supplements. But too much iron can also be harmful. Excess iron is toxic — it causes organ damage.



Although uncommon, it is possible to be anemic and still have hemochromatosis.
Normally we get 10 to 20 milligrams of iron a day in our diet, however, our body typically only absorbs 1 to 2 milligrams of that amount. The rest is not absorbed, and some is lost in any skin cells that are shed.

By contrast, people with hereditary hemochromatosis absorb 3 to 4 milligrams of iron through the intestine (about twice the normal amount), and the body does not have any way to get rid of it.

Over decades, this iron builds up in they body's organs, including the heart, liver, and pancreas. Iron accumulation results in organ damage and other conditions, such as diabetes and heart arrhythmias, that are signs that the organs are sick.

It takes a long time for organs to receive enough damage from excess iron before they begin to malfunction. Storing excess iron begins in childhood, but the symptoms of this disorder do not usually appear until adulthood. Symptoms begin to occur when the body has stored 20 grams or more of iron — which can take 40 to 60 years.

When Will Symptoms Appear?
Many factors effect when the symptoms of hemochromatosis may appear.

Alcohol. Because alcohol is also toxic to the liver, liver disease may occur earlier due to the combined effects of alcohol and iron.
Diet. People who take vitamin supplements that contain iron, or take vitamin C, which increases the body’s effectiveness at absorbing iron, may have symptoms at a younger-than-average age. Also, raw seafood and food that is high in iron content (such as spinach, broccoli, liver, and red meat) will increase the risk for developing hemochromatosis.
Gender. Men are 5 to10 times as likely to go to their doctor with symptoms of hereditary hemochromatosis than women. In untreated men, symptoms usually begin between age 40 and 60. For women, the symptoms usually start later, between age 50 and 65. One reason for this is that women have regular episodes of blood loss (and thus lose iron) through menstruation or childbirth.
Blood loss. Individuals who lose iron through blood donation may also delay the onset of symptoms.
Mutation type. There are two common mutations in a gene called HFE, which is known to cause hereditary hemochromatosis. One of these two mutations, called H63D, is associated with a less severe and later-onset form of hemochromatosis. People who have one or two copies of this mutation have a milder form of the disease compared to people who have two copies of the other common mutation (called C282Y).
More On: Genetics of Hemochromatosis

Prevention
The good news is that the earlier hemochromatosis is diagnosed, the easier and more successful treatment can be and the less likely it is that organ damage will have occurred.

If you have a predisposition to abnormal iron storage, you can prevent the buildup of excess iron and the damage it causes by a regular loss of iron through blood draws and by avoiding iron supplements and high doses of vitamin C. The treatment for a person with hemochromatosis includes getting iron levels back to normal, as well as specific treatment for any organ damage.




References
Burke, W, et al. (1998). Hemochromatosis: genetics helps to define a multifactorial disease. Clin. Genet. 54: 1-9.

Hereditary Hemochromatosis from GeneClinics Web Site. (2000). http://www.geneclinics.org.

Answer 2

Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to body tissues. A high hemoglobin count usually suggests that you have too many red blood cells (erythrocytosis), which can impair circulation and lead to abnormal clotting.

Causes of an elevated hemoglobin count may include:

Living at high altitudes
Smoking
Dehydration
Congenital heart disease
Cor pulmonale, a failure of the right side of your heart due to high blood pressure in the arteries of your lungs (pulmonary hypertension)
Pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring or thickening of the tissue between the air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs
Polycythemia vera, a rare bone marrow disease in which your body makes too many red blood cells
Anabolic steroid use

Treatment of a high hemoglobin count depends on the underlying problem.

Answer 3

if its too high, you may have what they called polyglobulia. too much hemoglobin, too much red blood cells. in time, in can cause problem with your circulation. the cure.. is to bleed. they use some kind of bag as if you were giving blood. but they throw away this blood, its is not used for other people.

so look for 'polyglobulia' and you may find something

Answer 4

You categorized this question in 'diabetes,' therefore I have to ask, do you mean Hemoglobin A1C? That is something unrelated to anemia. It is a percentage of your monthly blood sugar average. If that is what you are talking about, the number should be 7.0% or below.

Answer 5

You have then a high amount of iron in your blood.
It can damage your brain or you may feel a terrible headache. Some people may even die.