September is Menopause Awareness Month. It’s important for postmenopausal women to be aware of their increased risk for a variety of health conditions including iron overload in those with hereditary...

Editor’s Note: This post does not reflect the current product offering for customers in the United States. Mutations in the HFE gene cause most forms of hereditary hemochromatosis – a...

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...

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...

It’s the most common genetic disorder in the United States, but Milo Sharp had never heard of it before. He would have remained unaware of the lurking threat but for his wife’s interest in genetics. When he looked at his 23andMe results, "it was kind of surprising – I found not just one (variant) but two that put me at higher risk for hemochromatosis,” Milo said.

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.

Doctors routinely order the complete blood count (CBC) for their patients because they can learn a lot about a person’s health by measuring the numbers of different types of blood...

Our bodies need iron: to form the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin for our red blood cells, maintain our immune systems and keep our muscles and brains functioning properly. But not too much....

Last week in the Spittoon we reported on a new study that identified an interesting genetic trade-off – a genetic variant known that has one effect on a person’s vulnerability...