Let's Defeat Hemochromatosis in 2011

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Defeat hemochromatosis? In one year? Surely that's impossible? Well, the key to defeating hemochromatosis is making everyone aware of the condition. I'm talking doctors, nurses, family, friends, the person seated next to you the next time you fly. Hemochromatosis accounts for more cases of diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, liver disease, depression and suicide than anyone has so far cared to calculate. Why? Because not enough people know enough about it.

So how about this: You are one person, but this year you resolve to tell ten people about hemochromatosis, and you ask each of them to tell ten people. We can call it the 1+10 program, and 1+10=11, and this is 2011. By the time 2012 rolls around the world could be as aware of hemochromatosis as it is of cystic fibrosis (a terrible genetic condition, but one which is far less common than hemochromatosis).

On a more personal note, one of the many unwelcome things that hemochromatosis can do to a person is slow them down. Would you believe that the original title of this piece was "Happy New Year!" But it has taken me until now to finish writing this. Not that I have hemochromatosis, but my partner does, and helping her cope can take quite a bit of time and energy, particularly in a winter like the one we are having at the moment (talk about energy consumption!). However, I have managed to keep up with messages posted over on the Fighting Hemochromatosis Facebook page where topics have included:

If you have not visited or "liked" the Fighting Hemochromatosis Facebook page please do so. Every little bit of support helps.

In the next few weeks I hope to finish up some other hemochromatosis articles I have been working on. So here's hoping for a break in the weather! Wishing you all a Happy Rest of the Year.

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