Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
African iron overload
Introduction
African iron overload, formerly known as Bantu siderosis, is an iron overload disorder first observed among people of African descent in Southern Africa. Originally, this was blamed on ungalvanised barrels used to store home-made beer, which led to increased oxidation and increased iron levels in the beer. Further investigation has shown that only some people drinking this sort of beer get an iron overload syndrome, and that a similar syndrome occurred in people of African descent who have had no contact with this kind of beer (e.g., African Americans). This led investigators to the discovery of a gene polymorphism in the gene for ferroportin, which predisposes some people of African descent to iron overload.
References
- Gordeuk VR, et al. Iron overload in Africans and African-Americans and a common mutation in the SCL40A1 (ferroportin 1) gene. Blood Cells Mol Dis. 2003 Nov-Dec;31(3):299-304. [2]
- Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) 601195
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]