Ad

Latest Posts

Former Ireland AM host Mark Cagney reveals he was diagnosed with chronic illness

Mark Cagney has revealed he was diagnosed with Haemochromatosis.

The presenter said that prior to being diagnosed with the inherited condition, he was feeling constantly fatigue, experiencing stomach issues and having “incredible mood swings”.

Opening up about his health battle on Tuesday evening’s The Six O’Clock Show, the 65-year-old said: “I started in Ireland AM in my early forties and obviously you’re getting up at three or four in the morning so you are knackered because it throws your body clock out of kilter.”

“I had young kids, life was turned upside down and I felt like the stuff you step on in the street and you don’t want to bring into your house that’s how I felt all the time.”

“I thought this is going to kill me if I don’t either give it up or find out what’s causing it.”
Cathal Burke / VIPIRELAND.COM

“So I was having various tests done and all the rest of it and one of the blood tests came back with very high liver fats.”

Mark was then tested for Haemochromatosis, which is an inherited condition where iron levels in the body slowly build up over many years.

He explained: “It tends to happen or develop in mid to late 30s early 40s at a time when people are stressed and with young kids and they’re at a juncture in their career they’re thinking, ‘That’s life, of course I’m going to be tired’.”

“When it does present it presents as a problem in the kidneys or the liver or a problem in the heart or a problem in your pancreas. Certainly, when I was diagnosed, my GP had heard nothing of it didn’t know anything about it at all.”

VIPIRELAND.COM

Mark said he wanted to spread awareness about the condition “because it is the most prevalent genetic fault in the Irish population, one in five of us carry this gene”.

“It’s very simple, get a pinprick blood test done in your GP and check it out,” he added.

On the latest episode of the Gosscast, Alexandra Ryan and Kendra Becker talk the return of Love Island, Real Housewives, and the final season of KUWTK.

The girls also talk through some of the biggest stories of the week – including 2fm’s new breakfast show, the chaos of Eurovision, and Maura Higgins’ rumoured new love interest…

If you’re looking for the audio-only version of our chat, you can listen to the Gosscast on Spotify and iTunes too

Ad

Latest Posts

Don't Miss