Stacey M:

My name is Stacey.  My husband is a survivor of Aplastic Anemia with the help of a Stem Cell Transplant 2 years ago.  He is doing great and getting back to his normal self after a long 4-year battle.  His only side effect is Iron Overload.  He goes to the infusion center every 3 weeks to have blood removed.  His iron numbers are still very high from all of the transfusions he had during his illness.  His ferritin is still over three thousand.  My question is, is there anything else he can do to lower his iron numbers instead of the reverse phlebotomy?

Sangeetha Venugopal, MD, MS:

Thank You, Stacey for your question.  I am Sangeetha Venugopal, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.  So to go back to your question, I get that your husband has iron over load transfusion related and he’s getting phlebotomized for high ferritin levels.  And your question seems to be, what is there any other way?  Yes there are ways to lower the iron overload, but that is not necessarily from your side, meaning no amount of dietary restriction or taking some kind of supplementation is going to lower the iron levels.  I’m sure the doctor, the treating doctor, spoke to you about why the phlebotomy is being done for the iron overload.  So one of the complications of having an iron overload is it can affect cardiac status and liver status.  So that’s why he’s undergoing the phlebotomy.  And you could discuss with your physician about starting a medication that would lower the iron.  And, again, thank you for your question.