Looks like MS IS genetic...
 

Interesting, I knew they were leaning on it for a while but now it looks like we have the strongest evidence that MS is genetic. I hope my mother does not find out, she already feels guilty that I have it. (her father had PPMS) and so do I.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/res...008/index.aspx

Wow, for some reason this makes me sad because we have children. I aways knew it was a possibility but now we may know for sure. I went to the site to see if Jim could donate and he can't because his dad has passed away. I hope many here think about donating because it is history in the making. This could help so many including our children if it's proven.

Thanks for the info Earl.

Man......they are working at a snail's pace on this disease. :(

amen, Sally!

I participated in one of the first MS genetic studies, in the San Francisco Bay Area, geez, I think it was WAY back in 1992 or 1993...

my mother, my father, and four of my siblings, plus me, all did blood draws, and sent the vials in special boxes, via express mail.

I never heard what came of that study...

but yeah, even back then, they were pretty darn sure there was a genetic component to the disease, along with exposure to a triggering virus, living in certain lattitudes, and high sanitation standards.

they were particularly interested in our family, as my mother's aunt had MS (she passed away in the early 60s) and provided all the materials, postage, boxes, vials, and instructions.

my particular concern with MS and its genetic origins are due to the fact that my ex-husband's brother was dx'd with PPMS, 14 years ago, and is doing poorly.

this means that my son Benjamin has the "designer genes" on BOTH sides of his family.

I was told that the MS-carrying genes come from the mother's side, but still, it worries me, because it could mean the gene is reinforced in my son (he's now 24)

:(

Very interesting. I was diagnosed a year ago this Saturday. My mother was diagnosed 2 months before I was and she is 23 years older than me. My neuro told me that unfortunately I hit the mother lode. 1) genetic risk since my mother has MS 2) vitamin D deficiency 3) grew up in a cold climate 4) a severe case of mono a year and a half before my diagnosis (viral trigger perhaps). Sigh..... :(

If there was a study I would try to have my mother sign up with me to assist with genetic research.

Duh!!! I just read this more closely. I should try to participate in the study with my mother.

Double Duh!!! :confused: It's only for siblings. Can you say cog fog?

Since being dxd last year at age 52, I've asked all my aunts on both sides if they knew of anyone else in the family with MS. So far I haven't been able to find anyone.

I literally have 100 first cousins! You'd think someone besides me would have MS. *shrug*

Hey Natalie! You're using up all the thread!!! ;)

As far as anyone in my family knows I am the only one to ever have MS. My mother is going for an MRI soon for a different issue. That MRI should be able to answer the question I have had for so many years - does my mother have MS? She has so many other problems but so many of her sx's are similar to mine.

The horrible question of whether my dd will end up with MS is always in my mind.

Wow.

Hey, all you parents with MS, I have to tell you this. I'm the only kid out of 6 in the same litter with MS. No one in my whole extended family has it.

Please, please, please don't feel guilty about the genetic possibilities. Nothing wrecks me more than when I catch my dad weeping about my condition because a few years ago, he read an article that suggested a paternal genetic link.

I don't blame him, or my mother for any of this! Don't let yourself go to that bad place, it's not worth it!

Caveat: I do blame them for not giving me a new Firebird on my 16th birthday. Tightwads.

No one in my immediate or extended family has MS either. We do have autoimmune issues in the family and my endocrinologist told me that the genetic predisposition for me was simply the autoimmune tendency. How it manifests one way or another is entirely different story!

I personally think there's not going to be just one answer fits all but absolutely, this study will definitely be very helpful. There are certainly a lot of people who DO have MS running in the family.

I think I'm first in the family to have MS, although my Father had Polio as a kid. There must have been a genetic link somewhere, though, because, even though my Brother didn't have it, his DD, my Niece, may have it.

Of course, you all know, my DD has it, but is in total remission (Thank You Lord), at this time.

Thanks, Nappy, but of course I feel guilty.:(

Both of my parents have passed away, or else I could participate in the genetic study. I have a strong suspicion my Mom had MS. She had a lot of the classic symptoms of what would have been fairly mild MS. She finally had foot drop that got worse over her last two decades of life.

She had falls, problems with speech, fatigue and hand strength among other things.

My half niece (from my Dad) has MS, a really bad case.

I hope and pray our sons don't get it but if they do, that it will be mild and they'll have good medicines to treat it.

interesting I have asked everyone in my family no one can recall anyone having MS, strokes, heart attacks yes, MS no

By the way Frank, I miss your psychedelic peace sign!!

It's so sad when you keep hearing stories of all sorts of relations with MS. The guy who did my last MRI told me he has a friend who has MS and both his friend's sisters do too. Wow...3 siblings all with MS. I really hope they find this cure soon!

This has always been one of my pet peeves with MS. Just a few years ago when I was diagnosed it was rare to find much information and the few articles I did find were, imo, insultingly optimistic. Since it is such a charged topic when this topic came up on the boards it often resulted in hurt feelings rather than productive dialog.

My personal thoughts are that since MS strikes young women of childbearing years and until recently there was nothing to offer us the Docs were relieved not to have any research to back what only makes sense, to me...that there is often a familial link.

We can make our own decisions about whether or not to have children, if we haven't been blessed with them already, but rather than just gloss over it we have the need and the right to know more realistic stats on the possibility of passing it on even if it never happens.

I truly believe that accepting and thoroughly researching this connection, that is present in so many families, is one of the keys to making advances. Its about time.

Just a little anecdote. One of my girlfriend's husband is a great neurologist and he told me that years back when he was in med school one of their cadavars was a woman who had a "stroke" back in her 20s. It left permanent damage to her gait but if I remember correctly she lived the rest of her life without any other issues until she got much older and had eye problems which were attributed to her age. Upon autopsy she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Before MRI it was anyone's best guess, imo.

FYI, here are the stats as they appear on the NMSS website. Of course, we don't know exactly how they were derived or how old this is -- remember that the 1.5 million worldwide/400,000 U.S. stats are from 1975.

"The average person in the United States has about one chance in 750 of developing MS. But relatives of people with MS, such as children, siblings or non-identical twins, have a higher chance—ranging from one in 100 to one in 40. The identical twin of someone with MS, who shares all the same genes, has a one in three chance of developing the disease."

A friend of mine just had a Grandson with Cystic Fibrosis, which is an inherited disease. Both parents have be carriers and pass on a certain gene, but even then I think there is only a 25% chance that their children might get CF. They have one healthy child already.

There is absolutely no history what-so-ever of Cystic Fibrosis cropping up on either side of their large families (even though both parents must have inherited the gene and been carriers).

Maybe MS is like that, and doesn't even necessarily need a trigger. :confused:

I think it's strange that Muscular Dystrophy and Multiple Sclerosis were both "discovered" in the early-mid 1800's. There is some speculation that MS symptoms might have presented a few times earlier in history . . . but they have been documenting illnesses/diseases/autopsy results since the beginning of time, and there is no evidence that MS was ever observed at autopsy until two independant doctors "discovered" it at virtually the same time in the 1800's.

Well, I suppose it might take me off the hook if they determine it's mostly genetic, but of course I worry for my kids.

Cherie

There's a study for parents and the child affected too. Is your father still with us? If so, check that link again, it's the first study. :hug:








*thread writing lover* :p

No one in Jim's family has ms. BUT, let's remember that way back they would pass symptoms off as arthritis or something like that. Who really knows? Look how hard it is to diagnose today.

Don
 

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/abo...ics/index.aspx

It says there is a 1 in 750 chance of someone getting MS in the US.

It says there is a 1 in 40 chance of your child getting MS if a parent has MS.

When I was dx. in '92 the NMSS was saying there was a 1 in 1,000 chance of someone in the US of getting MS. They too said there was a 1 in 100 chance of passing MS to your kids. MS is on the increase and they don't understand why. The NMSS now says too it doesn't matter which parent has MS.

EDITED: to say I don't know if this has been brought up...I was going to double check and I accidentally hit the wrong key...

I have always felt that there was a genetic factor in not only MS but many other diseases as well. I know I have posted about this before but . . .I am a huge science buff and read and watch a lot of science type programs. I have seen a couple of shows on epigenetics. They were really interesting and, imo, explain why one twin gets MS and the other does not even though genetically, or so it was thought, they are the same.

As for me, I am the only one out of 10 siblings to have MS as well as my extended family including 3 generations.

As for the study, I plan on participating. I am sure it won't be hard to twist my parents arm about this as well as one of my sisters (they need a control in the study). It also would be interesting to include my DDs in that as well to see if they have some of the genetic markers.

Actually the stats are from around 2005, not 1975.

And, this information has been known for quite a while, just getting closer to what the markers might be.

thank you for that information.

do you have a link for that?

Bill, I don't know what to tell you -- the woman I spoke with at the NMSS told me that the statistics are from 1975. As per my thread about being upset with the statistics, that was the specific nature of my call.

This article supports that the last actual survey was in 1975 so is what you're saying that they increased the estimate in 2005? If that's the case, I'd like to know what it was before if you have it.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/40510.php

Thanks Sandy. :hug: The parent/child thing is discussed on that link? Unfortunately, my father passed away when I was 17. Not MS related.

I have it coming from both sides. My mom had MS and so did my grandmother (Dad's mom). So I've always figured there was a genetic element to it.

On the plus side, no one else in my family has gotten this. My dad and uncle, my brother, and my cousins have avoided it. I guess I won the lotto with getting it.

Jim's too, so he doesn't qualify. :( There was a link to get involved if both of your parents were alive. Then the other one was for siblings or something like that. Jim didn't qualify for either one.

:hug:

I just wanted to bump this back up so others who haven't seen it can see it. I'm going to call this week and see if my parents and I can do this.

CoyoKay
 

You were wondering where I read 'it didn't matter what parent had MS in terms of passing it along'...

http://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclero...wnl_mls_070907

June 28, 2007 -- Men and women with multiple sclerosis (MS) share an equal risk of passing the disease onto their children, according to a new study.

The results contradict a study published last year that suggested men with multiple sclerosis were more likely to pass MS to their children than women.

----

Too, I just got this back from the NMSS main web page when I asked them:

Pam Dixon has sent you a page from the National MS Society website!
URL: http://nationalmssociety.org/about-m...ics/index.aspx

Message: I hope you find this helpful in answering your question about children and MS. Although this discusses the genetic link, there is no supporting evidence to indicate that it is linked specifically to one parent over another. Please feel free to contact me if you have any futher questions. Pam 412-261-6347

My Brother and I both have MS.

:eek:

no one in my family has MS. I am the only one. No aunts, cousins, uncles, or distant relatives. no one remembers anyone being not able to walk, or having cog fog, or exhaustion. I am the lone wolf.

My mother passed away when I was 12, so I'm out.

One sister has lots of digestive issues - possible IBS.

My dad can explain how I'm related to half the population of where I grew up. He can also name person after person with MS. But no one in my immediate family - sisters/grandparents/aunts/uncles/first cousins had it. Just lucky lil' me. :cool: