Many things are associated with Irish-Americans -- woolen goods, Celtic music, and Irish foods and drinks, but few people know the story of Celtic curse. The Celtic curse refers to the disease of hereditary hemochromatosis, or HH. According to the latest edition of the Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, it is so-called because it is common in people of Celtic background: Irish, Scots, Welsh and British. Additionally, HH is one of the most common genetic diseases in the United States, occurring in one in 200 Caucasians with one in 10 being a carrier -- most, but not all of these having Celtic ancestry. Despite its prevalence, it remains relatively unknown, even among physicians. HH causes iron to be absorbed even when it is not needed. Normally, people absorb a tiny amount of iron daily, just enough to replace what is lost from normal bodily functions. In hemochromatosis, iron continues to be absorbed excessively. Once the places where iron is normally stored are full, iron begins to be stored in the liver, heart, skin and other organs, damaging them. This can lead to heart failure and rhythm disorders, diabetes, cirrhosis and liver tumors. Untreated, it can be fatal.

By the year 2030, approximately 70 million Americans will be 65 years of age or older. As people age, many will develop health problems. Loss of vision among older Americans is a significant one -- approximately one in three seniors has some form of vision-reducing eye disease. Vision impairment reduces one's ability to perform routine activities such as driving and reading, and increases the risk of depression. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in people 65 years of age and older. It is characterized by degeneration of the macula, the area of the back of the eye responsible for the central part of vision and the ability to see details. An annual eye examination is recommended to detect the signs of AMD in people 65 years of age or older. According to the latest edition of the Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, seniors with a sudden onset of blurred or distorted vision should be seen quickly to promote early detection and treatment.There is no question that people with AMD should quit smoking and control their blood pressure. Better yet, young and old alike should eat a healthy diet with lots of vegetables and fruit, control blood pressure and stop smoking as soon as possible to reduce their risk.

They're seen in magazine ads -- attractive models who are uniformly thin, often very thin. However, many of the models really don't look like their pictures. Tricks of modeling and photography make them appear thinner than they are. Some of the thinnest ones may have an eating disorder. Nonetheless, they set the standard to which American women apparently are expected to aspire. According to the latest edition of the Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, eating disorders fall into three general classes: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. There very likely is a genetic tendency and a chemical basis for the problem. It is not clear whether the problem is part of a larger group of psychological disorders or a distinct problem. Poor self-image, depression and anxiety are components of the underlying pathology, and cultural influences may cause affected individuals to focus on body weight as the target of their obsession. It's not clear what turns a desire to lose weight into a disease with a one in 200 mortality rate. A common theme is one of control -- body weight being one thing the affected person can control.

What's a woman's biggest health risk? Breast cancer? Osteoporosis? Alzheimer's? None of those, says the latest edition of The Medical Minute, a service of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The most important health risk facing women is heart disease. Consider these statistics: One in 22 American women has heart disease at any time, compared to one in 1,326 for breast cancer; one in about 11,000 for cancer of the cervix; and about one in 33 for Alzheimer's in women between age 65 and 74. Heart attacks kill more than five times more women than breast cancer, yet many women and their physicians often do not give it the same attention it receives in men. That's because women do not typically get the classic symptom of angina (chest pain) that men do. Women more commonly experience fatigue, breathlessness or atypical pain. Women tend to be about 10 years older on average than men when they first get symptoms. Often physicians attribute the symptoms to stress, acid reflux or other non-cardiac problems when a woman with risk factors presents for an evaluation.