The San Francisco Tesla Society

presents a free presentation featuring

 Richard Kunin, M.D.

"Hemochromatosis  (Iron Overload),
An Elephant in The Room"

Sunday, December 11, 2011    1 - 5 p.m. at the

TechShop - San Francisco
926 Howard Street (near 5th Street)
San Francisco, CA  94103

Iron Overload hemochromatosis is generally known as a genetic disorder where the body absorbs too much iron.  Over time, excess iron  build up in major organs such as the heart, liver, pancreas, joints and pituitary. Undiagnosed and untreated Hemochromatosis  increases the risk for diseases and conditions such as diabetes mellitus, irregular heart beat or heart attack, arthritis (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis), cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer, gall bladder disease, depression, impotence, infertility, hypothyroidism, hypogonadism, and some cancers. Mismanaged iron in the brain has been observed in autopsies of people with neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer's, early onset Parkinson's, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington's disease.  Joints and organs can be damaged, and the disease can be fatal. 

Iron is an essential nutrient found in many foods.  Iron carries oxygen (in hemoglobin) to all parts of the body. Normally, humans absorb about 8-10% of the iron in foods that they eat.  People with hemochromatosis can absorb four times more iron than normal.

There are several types of genetic hemochromatosis. These include: Type I or Classic (HHC); Type II a, b or Juvenile Onset  (JHC); Type III or Transferrin Receptor Mutation; and Type IV or Ferroportin Mutation.  Hemochromatosis is most common in Caucasian (white) people whose ancestors came from Northern Europe.  It is very rare in African American, Asian, Hispanic, Latino or American Indian individuals.

Hemochromatosis that is caused by non-genetic factors is called "acquired iron overload hemochromatosis." Acquired hemochromatosis can be caused by hepatitis, liver damage from alcohol abuse, cancer, or other causes which we will discuss.   Your health care provider can check for iron overload by testing the iron levels in your blood.  Genetic testing can also be done to look for genetic variants associated with hereditary iron overload hemochromatosis

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Richard Kunin, M.D. is a nutrition oriented physician and Orthomolecular specialist with over forty years of experience in the nutrition medicine field. He pioneered the use of vitamins and minerals in today’s medical practice and was a co-founder of the Orthomolecular Medical Society with Dr. Linus Pauling in 1976.

Kunin at 21 received his MD degree in 1955 from the University of Minnesota, and completed psychiatric residency training in 1959 at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Payne Whitney Clinic. Kunin was a National Institute of Health special fellow in neurophysiology at Stanford University.

Dr. Kunin has written many books including Mega Nutrition and Mega Nutrition for Women and has plans for future book releases as well. With many published articles to his credit, Dr. Kunin is well known for his contributions in The Townsend Letter, San Francisco Medicine and other scientific journals and publications.  In 1994, he founded the Society for Orthomolecular Health Medicine (OHM) in San Francisco, a large and well respected professional organization whose mission is to put nutrition first in the practice of medicine. Through this organization, Dr. Kunin brings together medical doctors and other health practitioners to discuss current nutritional approaches to treating disease states.

In Dr. Kunin’s San Francisco medical clinic, he practices a strategy of nutrition, detoxification and adaptive support that integrates all aspects of modern preventive health care.

InDr. Kunin utilized his extensive knowledge of how nutrients work in the body to formulate Ola Loa, an advanced nutrition daily vitamin drink mix used around the world.

Dr. Kunin also serves on the Board of Governors of the National Health Federation, a not-for-profit consumer education and health-protection organization founded in 1955. The NHF website contains an extensive listing of Dr. Kunin's nutrition research and medical achievements.  Please click here to read a more extensive bio of Dr. Kunin on their website.