July 23, 2012
Bethann is a Health Content Scientist at 23andMe and regular contributor to the Spittoon. The following is her story about finding out she has a genetic condition that puts her at risk for iron overload. When I received my 23andMe results my initial reaction was that of relief and curiosity — only [...]
July 11, 2012
Some of us may have grown up thinking that spinach is a good source of iron, but this isn't exactly true. It's been said that a report from the 1800's mistakenly claimed that the vegetable has 10 times more iron than it actually has. It's also known today that spinach contains the molecule oxalic acid, which [...]
July 2, 2012
Simply giving blood is one of the best ways to treat iron overload. It’s the most common genetic disease you never heard of. Hemochromatosis, sometimes called the “Celtic Curse,” affects an estimated one in every 300 Americans, but many who have it have no idea they do. July is National [...]
February 9, 2012
Your doctor, undoubtedly, knows quite a lot. She went through four grueling years of medical school, passed a rigorous set of board exams, and completed at least one intensive residency in her speciality. What may surprise you, however, is that she may not know very much about pharmacogenetics, the [...]
March 16, 2010
Today at the American College of Cardiology conference in Atlanta, researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Medco Health Solutions, Inc., presented results showing that using genetic testing to guide dosing of the commonly used blood thinner warfarin reduces hospitalizations. Overall there were 31% fewer [...]
