What is the Mi-iron study?
Do you live in or near Melbourne or Brisbane, diagnosed with haemochromatosis but have not had a venesection in the last 2 years and have a serum ferritin level between 300 – 1000? You may be able to help with an important research project.
Approximately 85,000 Australians have or will develop iron overload due to a genetic fault in the HFE gene; however the vast majority of these people will have only moderately elevated levels of iron.
Mi-iron is a research study which aims to measure the effect of reducing moderate iron overload back to the normal range in people with haemochromatosis and to determine whether it is necessary to do this.
The only way to know for certain whether there are benefits of reducing moderate iron overload, is to compare symptoms in people who have had their iron levels reduced (group 1), to those who have not had their iron levels reduced (group 2), this will be done using a treatment called apheresis.
This study will compare these two groups of people and measure improvement of symptoms such as fatigue, mood and general feeling of well-being.
This study will be held at the Austin Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. For more information about this study and to find out if you are eligible to take part please visit www.mi-iron.com.au or contact:
Lara Dolling, Project Co-ordinator,
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
E lara.dolling@mcri.edu.au
03 9496 4335