SLÁINTE - TO YOUR GOOD HEALTH! The Celtic Diseases
July is national Hemochromatosis Screening Awareness Month. If you are of Irish or "Celtic" ancestry you are at greater risk for developing hereditary hemochromatosis (HHC), a potentially fatal genetic disorder that causes the body to absorb up to three times the normal amount of iron.
Therefore, if you are of Celtic descent you should celebrate July by having a blood test for HHC.
Other than menstruation, the body has no way to rid itself of excess iron so over time iron builds up in vital organs, tissues and joints of those with HHC where it can cause symptoms that include fatigue, joint pain (especially in the middle two fingers), abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, browning or bronzing of the skin (sunless tan), hypothyroidism, enlarged spleen, loss of sex drive and impotence, high blood sugar levels and diabetes, liver cancer and elevated liver enzymes (ALT/AST), and chest pain and heart arrhythmia.
Symptoms appear earlier in men than women who are naturally able to excrete excess iron via menstruation, childbirth and lactation. As a result HHC may not appear in women until after menopause. Early diagnosis is critical. Any liver damage is permanent.
Treatment is simple, to reduce iron levels blood is removed, as it is when making a blood donation, one or two times a week until iron levels are normal and then less often maybe once every two to four months. Plus follow a diet with a few restrictions. Patients with HHC can even become blood donors so that the blood removed is put to use saving lives.
HHC is so prevalent in Ireland that it is often referred to as "the other Celtic Disease". The "Celtic Disease," of course, refers to celiac disease, another genetic disorder.
With celiac disease, also called gluten intolerance, gluten sensitive enteropathy, and celiac sprue, the ingestion of a protein found in wheat, rye and barley triggers an autoimmune reaction that destroys the lining of the small intestine which is responsible for the absorption of digested nutrients.
Symptoms of celiac disease include diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, weight loss, and anemia.
The disease is controlled by a diet that excludes all traces of wheat, rye and barley. A study published this month in the Journal Gastroenterology by Mayo clinic researchers found that having celiac disease led to a higher rate of death when people were unaware they had the disease.
Results also showed that young people today are four and a half times more likely to have celiac disease than the earlier participants in the study who had blood tests drawn in the 1940s and early 1950s.
Lead study author Joseph Murray, M.D., was quoted as saying, "this study suggests that we may need to consider looking for celiac disease in the general population, more like we do in testing for cholesterol or blood pressure."
In addition to the classic symptoms shown by patients with these two disorders sufferers can also show a plethora of minor symptoms that can confuse diagnoses.
For example, most people diagnosed with celiac disease lose weight because their bodies cannot absorb nutrients. However, some people with celiac are obese, the exact opposite of what one would expect and, as a result, the disease goes undetected.
Sláinte strongly suggests that you should be screened for both disorders if you have any of the symptoms mentioned above or if you have multiple odd symptoms your doctor is having a hard time diagnosing or if you have been diagnosed with one of the following: chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
Often these diseases are treated as waste baskets: when the doctor does not know what is wrong, he throws your file into one of them. If you have been diagnosed with any of these diseases make sure you look up the diagnostic criteria. You might have to educate your doctor.
When Sláinte searched for hemochromatosis on the web, one ad showed up all the time in Google. It claimed to offer a hemochromatosis cure that was "stumbled upon" by a Seattle woman.
I haven't had the time to check but I strongly suspect from the way it was written that the same copy is used to offer a "cure" for a number of different diseases. Sláinte is betting the same group is selling a book on how to cure chronic fatigue with "chronic fatigue" replacing the word "hemochromatosis" in the copy.
What made me LOL (laugh out loud in internet speak) was the first property of the cure. It would "alkalize your body in order to increase oxygen and create a body that will absorb minerals more easily."
When you absorb iron too easily the last thing you want is a treatment that will help you absorb minerals (which includes iron) more easily. In fact you want the opposite. Plus the body controls the alkalinity of the blood very closely.
Through diet you may be able to make small changes but there is no evidence they are of benefit. Step number two explains how to eliminate "hemochromatosis causing pathogens!" It is a genetic disease. There are no pathogens involved! The rest of the steps use terms that have no meaning. You can be sure the testimonials are made up.
Sláinte thinks that any person who offers useless cures to people with potentially fatal diseases is nothing short of a murderer.
Whoever the people are behind these books they are exploiting people's fears to make money. And at $24.50 a pop for their electronic book (you can only download it to your computer) they are making a lot of money. Never believe anyone who promotes easy cures. Your life could be the price you pay.
In recent months some interesting research about fibromyalgia has been published. Sláinte will discuss the new drugs being used to treat this disease as well as some of their side effects in her next column.
Suggested websites:
The Canadian Hemochromatosis Society: www.cdnhemochromatosis.ca
The American Hemochromatosis Society: www.americanhs.org
www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/index.htm
www.uwgi.org/hemochromatosis/flash/default.htm
Gluten Intolerance Group of North America. "GIG is at the forefront of innovative action and is respected globally as a powerful leader in the celiac community." For more information on how to join, write 15110 - 10 Avenue SW, Suite A, Seattle WA 98166-1820 or call (206) 246-6652. See their web page at: www.gluten.net.
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