Irish descendants at high
risk for liver disease
ByJohnHejkal
Staff writer
As St. Patrick’s Day draws near,
Irish blood may be a cause for pride in
many people.
But Irish livers may be a cause for
problems.
Those of Celtic origin are at a par
ticularly high risk for hereditary
hemochromatosis, or HH, said Sandra
Thomas, founder and president of the
American Hemochromatosis Society
in Delray Beach, Fla. She has dubbed
the disease the Celtic Curse.
HH is a gene mutation that causes
the body to store abnormally high lev
els of iron. Iron gets stored mostly in
the liver, pancreas or pituitary gland in
the brain. If too much iron accumu
lates, these organs can become dam
aged.
Dr. Mark Hutchins of the Nebraska
Hematology-Oncology center in
Lincoln said HH usually won’t be
detected until the disease manifests
itself in noticeable damage to the body.
Thomas, whose mother died from
liver cancer caused by HH in 1999, said
the key to making sure people didn’t
suffer from the disease was getting the
word out to the nearly 32 million peo
ple who could be at risk.
“People say, ‘How can this be> so
prevalent, and I’ve never heard about
it?”’ she said. “Well, that’s what we
want to know and what we’re trying to
change.”
If found early, HH is treated easily,
^ When you absorb iron into your
system, its there until you bleed”
Mark Hutchins
doctor of hematology and oncology
but if left undetected, liver cancer or
heart failure could be the eventual
result, Hutchins said.
“Iron is one of the metals in the
body that we don’t have a normal way
of excreting,” Hutchins said. “When
you absorb iron into your system, it’s
there until you bleed.”
The normal treatment for HH is
regular blood-letting. The bleeding is
done just like a donation to the blood
bank, Thomas said.
“Diet is not the way to manage
hemochromatosis,” she said. “Usually
it’s the blood-letting. That’s the treat
ment for this disease.”
The blood-letting creates a deficit
of blood in the body. People with HH
can draw iron out of the large stores in
their bodies to make more blood.
Blood from people with HH is
acceptable for donation to blood banks,
Thomas said, so increasing awareness
about HH could have dual benefits.
“That would be a great way to end
the blood shortage in this country, if we
could diagnose the patients and get
them to donate the blood,” she said.
Researchers believe Celtic people
formed the HH mutation in their genes
as long as 40,000 years ago in the area
that is modern-day Ireland, Thomas
said.
The diet of the people may have
been low in iron because of famine
conditions at the time. To compensate,
people developed this way to store as
much iron as possible in their bodies.
Irish people are not the only ones
who may inherit the disease. Those of
French, Scandinavian or German
descent also are at high risk.
“I know the Celtic curse sounds a
little ominous,” Thomas said. “But
diagnosed early, this disease is curable.
Diagnosed late, it’s deadly.”
Hutchins said people usually don’t
notice problems from HH until age 40
or 50, but he recommended testing
between the ages of 20 and 30 for peo
ple with family histories of liver dam
age or heart failure.
HH rarely causes problems in
young women, he said, because men
struation gives iron a ready place to go
as women replace the lost blood.
Thomas said the HH mutation is
easily detectable with a simple lab test.
Those who want more information
should call the American
Hemochromatosis Society at 1-888
655-IRON.
Stolen credit card used at mall
■ Freshman’s purse stolen
from Temple Building on
Tuesday during class.
By MkheUe Starr
Staff writer
A spring break trip to Cancun,
Mexico, may have been the motiva
tion behind a Tuesday spending spree
with a stolen credit card.
University Police Sgt. Mylo
Bushing said a woman using a stolen
credit card told clerks at five stores
that she was making the purchases for
a trip to Cancun.
The woman spent about $100
each at Lemer New York, Maurices,
Victoria’s Secret and Gadzooks and
$35 at The Market; all of the stores
are in Gateway Mall, 61st and O
streets.
The credit card owner, Jessica
Hutchinson, a freshman theater
major, said her purse with her wallet
were stolen from the Temple Building
on UNL’s City Campus.
Hutchinson had been in class
Tuesday when she and the rest of the
class went to the scene shop for about
10 minutes, and everyone left their
belongings unattended, she said.
When she came back her purse
was gone, she said.
Not only did she lose money and
the ability to get more money from
her bank, but she lost many sentimen
tal items, she said.
Among the things in her purse
were other credit cards, bank cards
and a social security card. But she
was concerned mostly about ticket
stubs from New York Broadway
shows and the purse itself, which is
from New York, Hutchinson said.
“I’ve never been so angry and
completely violated in my life,”
Hutchinson said. “Everything that
means nothing to her and so much to
me she’s probably already tossed.”
Hutchinson said she was disap
pointed that someone would steal
from the Temple Building because it’s
like a second home for theater stu
dents.
Recently, Steve Barth, a senior
theater major, also had his wallet
stolen from the Temple Building, and
his credit cards had been used,
Hutchinson said.
Barth was unavailable for com
ment.
Bushing said anyone with infor
mation about the crime involving a
white woman in her 20s making pur
chases for a spring break trip should
contact authorities.
Free disorder screening
to be held in Lincoln
By Tony Moses
Staff writer
Two groups are looking to
increase public awareness on behav
ioral disorders by holding screenings
today and Saturday.
The Lincoln Behavioral Health
Clinic and Behavioral Health
Counseling Center, a division of the
clinic, are sponsoring free screenings
for depression, anxiety, alcohol prob
lems and eating disorders.
“It’s not for diagnosis or treat
ment; it’s for awareness,” said Scott
Walls, director for the Behavioral
Health Counseling Center.
The screening is offered today
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Doane
College’s Lincoln campus, at 303 N.
52nd St.
Each person’s visit at the screen
ing will begin with a one-page brief
ing to draw awareness to any poten
tial problems, Walls said.
Staff members from the
Behavioral Health Counseling
Center will be available to discuss the
results of the briefings with partici
pants.
In addition to the briefing, infor
mational videos and referrals will be
available.
Dr. Bob Portnoy, clinical psychol
ogist and director of UNL
Counseling and Psychological
Services, said depression and anxiety
are the two most common problems
seen by die staff.
“The effects can be very dramat
ic,” he said. “We find people unable
to function with clinical depression.”
Portnoy said anxiety levels can be
also problematic. He also said some
students may avoid classes intention
ally or change their majors because of
high anxiety levels.
“You want an individual to have
enough anxiety to focus but not
enough to be overwhelmed,” Portnoy
said.
Two honor societies
select new members
By Gwen Tietgen
Staff writer
Being tackled and tapped by a
bunch of students wearing red and
black robes with sunglasses or
masks over their eyes doesn’t seem
like an ordinary honor society tradi
tion.
That’s because it isn’t.
Mortar Board is a national
senior honorary while Innocents
Society, the chancellor’s senior hon
orary, is unique.to the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Mortar Board tapped and
Innocents tackled their new mem
bers Monday.
The 23 new members of the
Black Masque Chapter of Mortar
Board and 13 new members of
Innocents Society will be initiated
April 1 and inducted April 8 at Ivy
Day.
From the time she was a fresh
man, Beth Augustine, who was cho
sen for Innocents, said she looked
up to the students in Innocents
Society and Mortar Board.
“As a freshman in (the
Chancellor’s Leadership Class), we
learn about (those societies),”
Augustine said. “I always thought
I’d like to be that type of person.”
Augustine said she didn’t know
what to expect Monday. She didn’t
know if she would be selected for
membership, she said.
“It’s so competitive,” she said.
“You hope that you’ll make it, but at
the same time you don’t know. It
was a very great surprise.”
Juan Izaguirre, a senior social
sciences education major and new
member of Mortar Board, said he
didn’t expect to get tapped.
“I was shocked because they
tapped me at work, and I thought
they were going to tap someone
else,” Izaguirre said.
“I heard about it my freshman
year, but it was Cynthia Gooch who
really pushed me to apply.
Everything is still sinking in.”
Gooch is the assistant director
of multicultural recruitment.
Jill Braband, a current member
of Innocents Society, said the soci
ety does various service activities
on campus, in the community and
” Innocents
doesn t seek
recognition for
what they do but
seek to better the
university.”
JillBraband
Innocents Society member
tor philanthropies.
“Innocents doesn’t seek recog
nition for what they do but seek to
better the university,” Braband said.
“We conceal our identities
because we work as a group and
don’t seek individual recognition.”
Sara Miley, junior exercise sci
ence major and new Mortar Board
member, said it is an honor but also
a commitment to serve campus.
“I want to continue the tradition
that the Black Masque Chapter has
set.”
Brett Stohs, a junior math and
political science major, said he was
elated when he saw the red robes of
Innocents members coming for
him.
“I see Innocents like a person
who puts a quarter in your parking
meter after it has expired without
you knowing it,” Stohs said.
Being a part of Innocents is
something he has always had in the
back of his mind, Stohs said.
“It’s a great honor knowing I am
one of the 13 people who has given
lots of time and effort to the better
ment of campus and the communi
ty,” Stohs said.
Natalya Shannon, a junior biol
ogy and psychology major, said
being inducted into Innocents was
an amazing experience.
“First of all, this is a really great
tradition and a real historical part of
the university,” Shannon said.
“I’m very proud and very hon
ored to represent the superior ideals
of the University of Nebraska.”
Staff writer Veronica Daehn
contributed to this report.
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