Woman with no symptoms had to have 14 pints of blood taken from her body

Woman with no symptoms had to have 14 pints of blood taken from her body Julie said her electrocardiogram came back “absolutely fine” A woman with “no symptoms at all” said a routine health test helped diagnose a genetic condition which resulted in needing a total of more than 14 pints of blood removed from her body over the course of a year so that she did not develop life-threatening liver damage. Julie James, 71, a retired HR director originally from London but living in Carmarthenshire in Wales, said she initially undertook a comprehensive private health assessment in March 2024 because both of her parents died “suddenly” of heart conditions and she wanted to know about her own heart health. Julie said her electrocardiogram came back “absolutely fine”, but her blood test results on April 11 revealed she had an excess of iron in her body – her reading was 34.1 micromoles per litre (umol) and came with a red flag warning, as the normal range is 10 to 25 for adult women, according to the NHS. Julie said she had several follow-up blood tests with her regular GP that tested her ferritin levels, meaning how much iron the body has in reserve, and she was “very shocked” to find out her first reading in April climbed from 554 micrograms per litre (ug/L) to 798 ug/L by the time she did the same test in July. This is above the normal range of 11 to 310 ug/L for adult women, according to the NHS, so Julie had a genetic test in order to be able to see a specialist. It took 14 weeks for the genetic test 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, helping to reduce the amount of iron in your body. After some 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. Julie said: “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… 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 thanks to the knowledge of her parents’ sudden cardiac-related deaths. Then at the start of 2024, Julie came across a newspaper advertisement for the health screening company Bluecrest and she decided to give it a go. Julie said: “I had no symptoms at all. I just thought it was worth getting checked.” In March, Julie had her appointment with a nurse, and when she got her results back on April 11, they showed elevated iron in her blood. Julie thought it might just be a “glitch”, so she was not too concerned. When she showed her results to her husband, a retired GP who did not wish to be named, he realised it might be haemochromatosis. For peace of mind, he urged her to go to her regular GP for a second opinion, so by May 24, they took printed out copies of the results to an appointment. When her husband mentioned his hypothesis, Julie said the GP was “sceptical” and he did not anticipate that to be the case, but agreed to investigate with the surgery’s own blood test. At the end of April, it was revealed Julie’s ferritin score was 554 ug/L but a follow-up test in July confirmed it had jumped to 798 ug/L. Julie was encouraged to do a genetic test to confirm the haemochromatosis diagnosis, before she was allowed to be referred to a haematologist. It took 14 weeks to receive the confirmation, so within that time she had a private MRI to double check if she had any liver damage, which Julie said showed a “slight shadow”. In early September, when she was 69 years old, Julie received a call from her GP to share the news of the genetic test and confirm the diagnosis. Dr Martin Thornton, chief medical officer at Bluecrest, told PA Real Life: “Hereditary haemochromatosis is caused by a faulty gene and is inherited from both parents. Iron builds up very slowly, so many people don’t develop symptoms until middle or later life. “In women, menstruation and pregnancy naturally reduce iron levels, often delaying the onset of symptoms until after the menopause.” Julie secured an urgent referral for a haematologist, who explained she would need fortnightly venesections to remove as much iron from her blood as possible. Starting on September 24, Julie said she was “scared” because she has never “liked the sight of blood”. Julie said she could not look at her blood being taken out of her arm and she had to drink “loads and loads” of water, but she treated herself to chocolate afterwards. Over the course of a year, Julie had 15 venesections in total, successfully getting her ferritin score down to 50 ug/L in October 2025. She has since needed three more venesections, meaning she has had a total of roughly 8,100mL of blood taken from her body, which is the equivalent of more than 14 pints of blood. For reference, the average human body has around 10 pints of blood at any one time, according to NHS Blood Donation. Throughout her treatment, Julie said she was advised to cut down on things such as alcohol and red meat, though Julie decided to cut it out totally, and she said an “added bonus” is that she has lost more than a stone in weight as a result. Although the frequency of venesections has slowed down now that her iron levels are in a healthy range, Julie’s blood will continue to be monitored every six months for the rest of her life. She has become involved with the charity Haemochromatosis UK, and donates to their efforts to help people living with the condition. Julie said she has since done a follow-up health screening with Bluecrest and confirmed her iron levels are now “in the green range”, but she also encouraged her husband to do one too. “Ironically, because we’ve not had any red meat at all, you won’t believe it, but when his results came back, he was low in iron,” Julie said, of the dietary changes they have both implemented. She said that her husband is now taking daily multivitamins and iron supplements. Julie added: “I always say to people, be proactive and advocate for yourself. It’s your body, it’s your life.”