Re: “I read about a disease fairly common in people of european descent that causes a buildup of iron in the body. Giving blood is the *cure* and I think they recommend they give once per month. Something like that.”
I heard that donating blood is actually healthy, for exactly this reason, and especially for men. The story is that TOO MUCH iron in the blood is a cardiac risk factor. Women lose some blood every month until they are about fifty, but men don’t. In this case, donating blood not only helps someone else, it’s good for the donor too.
See post above. The excess iron can build up in the liver and other organs. I was asymptomatic and learned I had it after my brother was diagnosed. It's controlled by phlebotomy and diet. The patient's blood ferritin levels are monitored. The goal is to have a ferritin level of around 50 and when the levels climb higher it's time to give blood. Some people are very ill with it and others (like me) have no clue they even have it.