A woman with “no symptoms at all” had more than 14 pints of blood drained from her body over the course of a year after a routine health check uncovered a hidden genetic condition. Julie James, 71, a retired HR director originally from London but living in Carmarthenshire, Wales, said she undertook a comprehensive private health assessment in March 2024 because both her parents died “suddenly” of heart conditions and she wanted to know about her own heart health.
Her electrocardiogram came back “absolutely fine”, but blood test results on 11 April revealed an excess of iron in her body – her reading was 34.1 micromoles per litre (umol), with a red flag warning, against the normal range of 10 to 25 for adult women, according to the NHS. Follow-up tests with her GP measured ferritin levels, the amount of iron the body has in reserve. Julie was “very shocked” to find her first reading in April climbed from 554 micrograms per litre (ug/L) to 798 ug/L by July – well above the normal range of 11 to 310 ug/L.
“Julie James, 71, had over 14 pints of blood removed after a routine test revealed haemochromatosis.”
A genetic test took 14 weeks to confirm a diagnosis of haemochromatosis, an inherited condition where iron levels in the body slowly build up over many years, with the potential to cause liver damage, diabetes, heart problems and arthritis, according to the NHS. Since her diagnosis in mid-September 2024, aged 69, Julie has had a total of 18 venesections – a procedure to remove an average of 450mL of blood that forces the body to use up more iron to replace the red blood cells. Combined, that is more than 14 pints of blood.
“There I am, thinking I’m healthy. Then I go for a private medical assessment in March, and by the time we get (from April to July), it has gone up even higher,” she said. “The earlier you know these things, the better they can be managed and treated.”
Julie said her health has always been “absolutely excellent” because she regularly exercised, mindful of her parents’ sudden cardiac-related deaths. At the start of 2024, she came across a newspaper advertisement for the health screening company Bluecrest and decided to give it a go. “I had no symptoms at all. I just thought it was worth getting checked,” she said.
After making lifestyle changes including cutting out red meat and alcohol, Julie’s iron levels are now safely in double figures, but she still needs regular blood tests to monitor her condition and occasional venesections. “Be proactive and advocate for yourself,” she advises.