The Science of Haemochromatosis
4 December - 17 mins
Podcast Series
Show Me the Science with Luke O'Neill
This week, Professor Luke dives into a condition that affects Ireland more than almost anywhere else on Earth: haemochromatosis, the iron-overload disorder sometimes dubbed “the Celtic disease”. And we owe this one to two listeners, Kayden and Kari, who emailed Luke asking him to shine a light on it.
Here’s the remarkable thing: 1 in 83 Irish people have haemochromatosis. Globally, it’s closer to 1 in 10,000. Why are we so unusually affected? Luke explores the Founder Effect, seen in remote and island populations, where one ancient genetic mutation spreads widely over generations. Some researchers even wonder if it goes back to a single ancestor in early medieval Ireland… perhaps as far as...
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