Two copies of one iron gene more than doubled liver disease
In UK Biobank men with two copies of the C282Y variant, 20.3% had liver disease against 8.3%, and 33.1% died against 25.4%. One copy carried no excess of anything.
What the study found
Two copies of one HFE variant more than doubled liver disease
In UK Biobank, men with two copies of the C282Y variant in the iron-regulating gene HFE had 20.3% liver disease against 8.3%, more joint replacements, and died more often, 33.1% against 25.4%. About one in ten untreated men with two copies develops cirrhosis or liver cancer in a lifetime.
The caveat · Volunteers healthier than the public
People carrying only one copy, and those with the milder H63D variant, showed no excess of anything — and they far outnumber the two-copy group, which is roughly 1 in 150 to 200 people of northern European ancestry. UK Biobank volunteers are healthier than the general population, so these percentages are not population rates. The one-in-ten lifetime figure is for men; the figure for women is substantially lower.