Laura Dundovic has revealed she gets her blood drained every month after discovering she suffers from haemochromatosis – a genetic disorder in which the body absorbs too much iron from the person’s diet.
The model and former Miss Universe Australia winner, 36, undergoes the procedure every few months to get rid of the excess iron.
To get a better handle on things, she recently started getting monthly venesections during which 500mls of blood is drained from her body.
‘I’ve had it since I was 16, I store too much iron. It stores in your organs and your body goes into iron overload,’ she told The Daily Telegraph.
Dundovic, who also starred on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, said she was relieved to be finally getting her health in check after years of struggling with the disorder.
‘I’m finally getting an understanding of my body so I have felt really good the last few months,’ she said.
‘It has been two years of confusion and then a year of work as it takes a while to find what is wrong. For two years it was just symptoms that no one can really group together but this last year has been really moving forward.’
Laura Dundovic has revealed she gets her blood drained every month after discovering she suffers from haemochromatosis – a genetic disorder in which the body absorbs too much iron from the person’s diet
Dundovic has previously spoken about her ongoing health struggles, and in December she said 2023 was the ‘worst year of her life’.
‘At the beginning of the year I had a fall in Bali and needed eight weeks for that injury to heal. Then that healed and I broke my toe,’ she told the Sunday Telegraph.
Dundovic, who also suffered a car accident when her vehicle was side-swiped by a bus, was then diagnosed with Hashimoto’s – an auto-immune disease that can affects the thyroid gland.
The model and former Miss Universe Australia winner, 36, undergoes the procedure every few months to get rid of the excess iron
Hashimoto’s disease, also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is an autoimmune condition – It usually causes low thyroid hormone levels in the body.
Dundovic soared to fame when she was crowned Miss Universe Australia back in 2008 and placed in the top ten of the international competition.
She has also carved out a successful career for herself as a model and actress, after first making her acting debut on Home and Away at the age of 15.
