Celtic Curse & Iron Overload

Dear American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics: According to a recent article on GenomeWeb your organization, the ACMG has declared that: "HFE testing shouldn't be ordered for patients who don't have iron overload or a family history of HFE-related hereditary hemochromatosis." Frankly, this is some of the worst medical advice I've ever seen published, it defies the logic of real life, and does so in a way that reinforces a number of medical stereotypes. I invite the ACMG to address the following five realities as they relate to the two limited conditions under which your organization would permit people to find out whether or not they are carriers of a potentially crippling and deadly genetic condition, otherwise know as HFE testing. A. Re: "a family history of HFE-related hereditary hemochromatosis" In your version of reality, how do people know if they have a family history of HFE-related hereditary hemochromatosis (HH)? In the real world, man...

UPDATE! August, 2017: The 23andMe service has resumed provision of HFE status as part of its normal service, which makes the following "hack" unnecessary. For more details, see this 23andMe article .)  If you already know about hereditary hemochromatosis and you want to find your genetic HFE status, you can skip to section 2 for the link to download our document that shows how to use raw 23andMe DNA data to check your HFE for C282Y, H36D, and S65C. If you are new to hemochromatosis, start with section 1. 1. About hereditary hemochromatosis Sometimes referred to as HHC or simply HH, hereditary hemochromatosis is a genetic condition in which your body accumulates iron in joints and organs (also called genetic haemochromatosis in some countries and nicknamed bronze diabetes and Celtic Curse). If untreated, HH can lead to iron overload which causes cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes, heart disease, endocrine problems, depression, impotence, and joint pain and eventual rep...

September is National Menopause Awareness Month and what better way to mark the occasion than getting your genes checked for hereditary hemochromatosis. Why? Because menopause ends the monthly blood loss that can mask the most common deadly genetic condition in America: hereditary hemochromatosis (also called iron overload, Celtic Curse, bronze diabetes, or HH and HHC for short). If you were born with hemochromatosis, sometimes described as a defect of the HFE gene, menopause can cause your body to start accumulating toxic levels of iron, resulting in chronic fatigue, serious joint pain, liver damage, diabetes, depression, loss of libido, migraines, and worse. Why should I get my genes tested for hereditary hemochromatosis? Getting your genes tested for hereditary hemochromatosis could actually save your life! And right now, during National Menopause Awareness Month, there is a way to get your genes checked for HH for $50 off the normal cost. Let me explain why this is so important....