About

Q. Who created CelticCurse.org
A. CelticCurse.org was created in 2010 by Stephen Cobb to raise awareness of hereditary hemochromatosis or iron overload, also called genetic haemochromatosis.

Q. Who is Stephen Cobb?
A. Stephen is an award-winning technologist and best-selling author with over 30 years experience as computer security professional. His LinkedIn page is here.

Q. Why did Stephen create this site?
A. Stephen's wife, Chey Cobb, also a writer and computer security expert, has hemochromatosis. Stephen wanted to spread the word about hemochromatosis to help other families avoid the tragic consequences of undiagnosed iron overloading. Chey sometimes helps with research for blog posts and replying to comments.

Q. When did Chey start experiencing the symptoms of hemochromatosis?
A. Around the time she turned 40.

Q. When did Chey find out she had hemochromatosis?
A. November of 2008, more than 10 years after the first indications of iron loading. Stephen wrote about the diagnosis in this article: What Am I Thankful For? A diagnosis of hemochromatosis

Q. Is either Stephen or Chey a medical doctor?
A. No. But given the terrible track record of doctors when it comes to diagnosing and treating hemochromatosis, documented here and in other places, Stephen and Chey probably know more about hemochromatosis than the average family doctor.

Q. How did Stephen and Chey educate themselves about hemochromatosis?
A. They started by reading this book, The Iron Disorders Institute Guide to Hemochromatosis, by Cheryl Garrison of the Iron Disorders Institute. Then they read everything they could find on the Internet about hemochromatosis, including all of the medical journal articles they could access within their budget. In October of 2010, Stephen attended the Iron Conference, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Since then, Stephen and Chey have kept up their research, and interact with thousands of hemochromatosis patients on the Facebook Hemochromatosis page that Stephen created.

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Hemochromatosis, Iron Overload, Hemopause, and CelticCurse dot org: an update for 2021

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A note from Stephen Cobb who launched the CelticCurse.org website in July of 2010 with this headline:  The Work Begins Here: Teaching the world about the Celtic Curse. I began that first article with this statement: "The more people know about hemochromatosis, a genetic condition often referred to as Celtic Curse, the fewer will suffer needlessly and die tragically." That statement remains true today, more than 10 years after I wrote it. The effort to fight hereditary hemochromatosis by informing people about this surprising common genetic mutation—and the potentially fatal condition of iron overload that it can create—needs to continue in 2021.  Thankfully, over the last decade a growing number organizations and online efforts have appeared and expanded to reach more and more people. Here are just a few of them, from around the world: Hemochromatosis.org Iron Disorders Institute Haemochromatosis UK The Irish Haemochromatosis Association American Hemochromatosis Society Canad
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