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Showing posts from September, 2014

Menopause + Hemochromatosis = Hemopause (and women of a certain age are at risk)

Are you dealing with menopause, or the approach of menopause? Then this blog post is for you. Some women approaching menopause are at risk of absorbing too much iron, resulting in serious joint pain and damage to the liver, pancreas, heart, brain, and other soft tissue. Why? Before menopause, the menstrual cycle gives women a natural defense against excess iron buildup; that monthly loss of blood removes iron from the body. However, this can mask a surprisingly common genetic disease called hemochromatosis in which the body's normal handling of iron is disrupted, leading to a potentially fatal condition called iron overload (it's what killed Hemingway and it's what Tamra Barney's son Ryan has on Real Housewives of Orange County ). This blog post explains the problem and how to defend yourself and the women you love. What is Hemopause? Without that natural monthly loss of blood, undiagnosed hemochromatosis can start causing damage that is hard to detect before it becom

Hacking hemochromatosis: how to get your HFE gene status via 23andMe (C282Y, H63D, and S65C)

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 replacement.