In this short interview, McCall McPherson shares a personal story about his brother’s sudden heart attack, which was later linked to hereditary hemochromatosis. He explains how the C282Y and less‑common F65C gene variants contribute to iron overload, and why heavy menstrual periods can protect women while post‑menopause increases risk. The conversation emphasizes the importance of checking iron saturation and ferritin levels, and recommends genetic testing—especially for those of Irish or UK descent, where carrier rates are high. McPherson also discusses therapeutic options, including chelating supplements such as curcumin, green tea extract, and algal extracts, as detailed in his book The Iron Curse, and the role of regular blood donation (phlebotomy) to reduce excess iron. The tone is conversational and cautionary, aiming to raise awareness and provide actionable steps for individuals at risk of iron overload.
Chapters
This is really fascinating for me, not only because I'm having this experience, but 6 months ago, my brother, who's just a few years older than me, he was 48, perfectly healthy, no cholesterol issues, had a perfect calcium score, died of a heart attack. He was thin. You never in a million years would've guessed, but he did have hemochromatosis. He was a carrier, but had a lot more iron than I did.
And he had the C282Y gene, guarantee you. And maybe he had another one. Maybe he had that third one that doesn't really get sequenced often, the F65C. So that tells me one of your parents probably had 2. I don't know which one, because maybe, maybe not, but I guess one of them had 2. And then what saved you from a heart attack is your heavy periods. So now you're quickly going up. Exactly.
And so tell women who are listening, obviously we want to be highly attuned to this postmenopausally as periods get less frequent, but it can also manifest earlier, especially if you have 2 genes or more, right?
Look at your iron saturation. Look at your ferritin. If those are in a questionable range or high, then get the genes. Personally, I think you should get the genes anyways. 30% of the population has these genes. If you've got an Irish or UK last name, you're like in the 50s to 60s percentage. So get the genes, get your labs done. Having said that, if you're somebody with this gene and you've been having high iron for a while, you've been hoarding iron. You end up dying from too much iron. So the body likes to deposit it into tissues, and there's some supplements that can chelate that iron, like curcumin's one of them, green tea extract, algal These are just a couple of the things I talk about, all the supplements in my book, The Iron Curse. These supplements, you can take them and they can actually pull the iron out of the tissues, which is really valuable. And that takes a while.
Potentially that could go away with the right tools. And the other that people are probably completely also unfamiliar with is when you have too much iron, when it's too concentrated, you go and you donate blood.
The blood removal is key. That is the primary treatment that hematologists and the medical profession uses. I think that's selling people short. And so there's a couple of reasons for that. The supplements and the diet are key too.
