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An Irish Story That May Save Your Life

I would like to tell you a story. I suppose we could say that it is an Irish story, seeing as how it has its roots in Ireland. But I am afraid that if I did that, people who are not Irish might skip reading the story. And if they did that, it could cost them their life.

You see, this is an important.

story for everyone to read. And for about 20 percent of you or so, this story really could save your life.

Like I said, this story has its roots in Ireland. Or at least, in the land that would someday become Ireland. Our story begins about 40,000 years ago with one of the first Homo Sapiens to inhabit that land - one of the first humans that would spawn what would become the Irish race.

Forty thousand years ago we were still experiencing the last remnants of the ice Age. Great glaciers had scoured the land for thousands of years. As they retreated and melted, new seas were created which separated what became Ireland from the rest of Europe. Famine and starvation came to those who found themselves isolated on the Irish island. Extinction of all humans there seemed inevitable.

But then something remarkable happened. Something that would come to symbolize the Irish race in the millennia’s to follow. In the face of almost certain extinction - they received a blessing that granted them their continued existence.

Forty thousand years ago, one of them - just one - underwent a genetic change. This change - unique to all the rest of the humans in the world at the time - allowed this one person to absorb more iron from food than all other humans were capable of absorbing into their bodies.

And because this one person was granted this great gift, he or she was able to survive the famine and starvation. And because this person now carried this unique genetic change, he or she was able to pass it down to their offspring and they, in turn, to their offspring, allowing these people to exist and multiply on the barren island and allowing the Irish race to come into being.

I do not exaggerate in telling you that if this genetic anomaly did not happen, the Irish race might never have happened. And so, by all accounts, it was the first of the Irish blessings visited upon the inhabitants of that little island.

Today, that genetic change is still found and still passed from father and mother to son and daughter. And for those who inherit this genetic change, they continue to absorb iron at far greater rates than other human
beings.

Today, we identify people with this condition by saying that they have “Hemochromatosis” - or more specifically -“ Inherited Hemochromatosis”.

And today, we do not recognize this condition as something positive or wonderful that occurred long ago to the Irish. Today in fact, the condition is often referred to as the “Celtic Curse”.

The reason for this change is because today, our modern societies provide us with all the nutrition that we could ever want. There is no need to store up additional iron. But still, people with hemochromatosis do store up iron. And this abundance of iron inside of the body can and does lead to many bad things.

Arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and liver cancer are all caused by excess iron in the body. And people with hemochromatosis die every day from heart disease and cancers that they develop without ever learning that the reason they got that cancer in the first place is because they had hemochromatosis.

On average, a patient who experiences symptoms of excessive iron in their blood will have to visit eleven physicians before they find one that correctly diagnoses them as having hemochromatosis. The condition is one of the most under-diagnosed and mis-diagnosed medical conditions in the United States. And as a result, millions of Americans will continue to die from cancer and heart disease and diabetes when in fact, they could have avoided contracting all of those illnesses if they had known they have hemochromatosis.
About one-third of all the Irish in the world have hemochromatosis. And because the largest commodity exported from Ireland was, and is in fact, the Irish people, this genetic mutation has been passed on to people of all other nationalities. Today, the U.S. Center of Disease Control estimates that as many as twenty percent of all Americans have hemochromatosis.
As I have explained, hemochromatosis is not a disease, it is a genetic anomaly. And therefore, it doesn’t have a “cure”. but it can be controlled. People who have hemochromatosis are simply required to give blood two or three times a year and control the iron levels in their bodies. Obviously, the earlier that one can be diagnosed with the condition, the better.

The real problem comes in identifying the condition in the first place. You see, there are few, if any, symptoms that people with
hemochromatosis experience. In most cases, people only find out they have hemochromatosis when they experience some illness that was caused by the condition. Yet, the test for hemochromatosis is simply a special blood test that can be ordered by your physician.

But then, most physicians in the U.S. don’t order such tests. So, you have to tell your doctor to run the test or to refer you to a liver specialist who will run the test. Both parents have to pass the genetic mutation to the offspring. So not all brothers or sisters in a family will develop the condition, even if their parents have the genetic mutation. For this reason, everyone has to be tested.

There is a lot of research going on and scientists hope to develop some form of medication that can stop the condition brought about by hemochromatosis. Most of the research is being conducted in Ireland where the condition is still most common.

And so, this is the story I wanted to tell you. A story about a gift that at first led to survival and that today is an impediment to a recipient’s health. I told you this story because you know someone with hemochromatosis and now that you know about the condition, you are in a position to save that person’s life.

That is especially true if that person happens to be you.

You can learn more about hemochromatosis on the Internet. Just enter the name in a search engine. If you are of Irish descent, talk to your physician about being tested.

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