On the casuistry of hemochromatosis (bronze diabetes)

The essence of the disease mainly consists in a violation of iron metabolism with increased deposition of it in a number of organs and, mainly, in the liver, mainly in the form of hemosiderin. The term "hemochromatosis" was introduced by Recklinghausen (1889) and reflects one of the characteristic symptoms of the disease — an abnormal coloration of the skin (melasma) and organs, due to the deposition of pigments in them, according to the author — of blood origin. With the help of labeled iron, it was found that increased deposition of iron in the liver and in other organs during hemochromatosis is associated, in contrast to hemosiderosis (with hemolytic jaundice, pernicious anemia), not with increased blood breakdown, but with an increase in the absorption of iron from the digestive tract.