Do YOU stay in a ‘Celtic Curse’ hotspot? Scientists reveal the areas of the UK and Ireland with the very best charges of little-known genetic illness

Scientists have revealed the areas across the UK and Ireland that are hotspots for the ‘Celtic Curse’.

Otherwise known as haemochromatosis, the Celtic Curse is a little-known genetic disease that causes a build-up of iron in the blood.

If left untreated, haemochromatosis can lead to liver damage, diabetes, arthritis, and heart problems. 

Now researchers from the University of Edinburgh have mapped its prevalence across the UK and Ireland for the first time. 

And their data confirms that the condition really does live up to its Celtic nickname.

The researchers analysed genetic data from more than 400,000 people in the UK BioBank and Viking Genes studies to see where C282Y – the genetic variant behind the condition – is most commonly found.

Their analysis revealed that people with ancestry from the north-west of Ireland have the highest risk of developing the Celtic Curse.

One in 54 people from this area is estimated to carry the C282Y genetic variant, compared to just one in 218 in the southwest of England.

Haemochromatosis is not always obvious right away, and it can take decades for symptoms to emerge as high iron levels damage the organs.

This is why it is so important to catch the condition early, so that treatments like regular blood donation can be used to prevent long-term damage. 

Despite its well-known association with Scotland and Ireland, the distribution of genetic risk factors in these regions has never been mapped before.

In their new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers confirmed that the disease is far more common in Celtic regions of the UK and Ireland.

The second highest prevalence is found among Outer Hebrideans, of whom one in 62 carries the gene, and people from Northern Ireland, with one in 71 carrying the gene.

Mainland Scots, particularly in Glasgow and southwest Scotland, are also at a significantly higher risk of developing Celtic Curse – with one in 171 people at increased risk.

The researchers also examined haemochromatosis diagnoses across NHS England, identifying more than 70,000 cases.

They found that diagnoses were almost four times higher among white Irish patients compared to white British individuals.

Celtic Curse, or haemochromatosis, is a little-known genetic condition affecting the haemoglobin in the blood which leads to a buildup of iron 

Interestingly, people from Liverpool were 11 times more likely to receive a diagnosis than people from Kent.

The researchers suggest this is because Liverpool historically had very high levels of immigration from Ireland.

During the 1850s, around 20 per cent of Liverpool’s population was Irish – significantly increasing the prevalence of the Celtic Curse gene.

Co-author Professor Jim Wilson believes this massive bias towards Scotland and Ireland hints at how the condition originally emerged.

He says: ‘I think the C282Y variant first arose in a Scottish or Irish person, maybe 5,000 years ago. Everyone who carries it today is a descendant of that person.

‘The jury is still out whether it brought some sort of advantage, or whether it is more common in those parts of the world because more of the descendants of the original person, in which the mutation arose, are still living there.’

Just having the C282Y gene alone does not mean that someone will necessarily develop Celtic Curse.

However, it does make the condition much more common in parts of the UK and Ireland where the gene is most frequent.

Someone with two copies of the gene has a 56 per cent chance of developing haemochromatosis, compared to a zero per cent chance for someone without the gene.

Professor Wilson says: ‘The risk of haemochromatosis differs sharply across the UK and Ireland and is so high in the Western Isles and Northern Ireland that I think it warrants a genetic screening programme to identify those at risk before organ damage begins.

‘The Western Isles are a circumscribed population of under 30,000 people, an ideal test bed for haemochromatosis screening and we are thus launching a campaign to raise funds to start a screening pilot there.’

Torcuil Crichton, Labour MP for the Western Isles, who has haemochromatosis, says: ‘This research writes the case for community-wide screening in the Western Isles, Northern Ireland, and other haemochromatosis hotspots.

‘Early identification, which I was lucky to have, means a whole range of bad health outcomes can be avoided and I’ll be urging Ministers and the Screening Committee to reconsider their stance.’