Screening for hereditary haemochromatosis should be implemented now

EDITOR—The editorial by Haddow and Bradley on population screening for haemochromatosis concludes that now is too early to start population screening because of uncertainties about the proportion of homozygotes who will express symptoms of the disease.1 Haemochromatosis has been recognised as a clinical entity for over 150 years, but the gene that is mutated was not identified until 1996. Clinical haemochromatosis, defined by the presence of abnormal serum iron variables, has consistently been estimated to affect …