Irish America

Autoimmune Disease

All About Autoimmunity Ask the Expert: Dr. Noel Rose

By Sheila Langan, Deputy Editor
August / September 2013

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As a concept, autoimmunity can provoke unease – there’s something disconcerting about the thought of the body attacking itself; the processes that are meant to protect us running haywire and causing harm. Equally disconcerting is the fact that the underlying cause(s) of most autoimmune conditions are still unknown. Autoimmune diseases, a wide range of disorders whereby the … [Read more...] about All About Autoimmunity Ask the Expert: Dr. Noel Rose

Did President Kennedy Have Celiac Disease?

By Dr. Peter Green, Contributor

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Dr. Peter Green, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, suspects that JFK was the victim of an undiagnosed disease common to the Irish. John F. Kennedy’s long-standing medical problems started in childhood. In Kennedy’s adolescence, gastrointestinal symptoms, weight and growth problems as … [Read more...] about Did President Kennedy Have Celiac Disease?

Fact Sheet: Celiac Disease

By Adam Farley, Editorial Assistant
August / September 2013

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Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that is characterized by an intolerance for gluten (a protein most commonly found in wheat, barley, and rye). Consuming gluten triggers an immune response that causes inflammation in the lower intestine that can permanently damage the intestinal lining. This damage results in malabsorption of essential nutrients and can lead to stomach … [Read more...] about Fact Sheet: Celiac Disease

The Great Hunger and the Celtic Gene

By Dr. Thomas P. Duffy Contributor
August / September 2013

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Thomas P. Duffy MD of the Yale School of Medicine explores why certain people survived the Great Hunger and reasons that the answer may lie in their gene pool. Shortly after the great Irish famine of 1847-49, the initial description appeared, in 1865, of a fatal disorder that compromised the liver and pancreas and resulted in bronzing or hyperpigmentation of the skin. Many … [Read more...] about The Great Hunger and the Celtic Gene

Fact Sheet : Hemochromatosis

By Adam Farley, Editorial Assistant
August / September 2013

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Hemochromatosis (he-moe-krome-uh-TOE-sis) Hereditary hemochromatosis is a disease caused by a recessive genetic mutation that makes the body absorb too much iron, resulting in excess amounts being deposited in vital organs, most commonly the liver, heart, and pancreas. Luckily, only a small number of people with the genetic mutation develop serious problems, but even so, … [Read more...] about Fact Sheet : Hemochromatosis