Degenerative back problems hereditary?

I asked my doc this, and he said absolutely not. But it seems strange that I have cervical disk issues, and DDD and lumbar also... which my cousin has almost identical spinal issues. My 20 year old daughter is fighting back pain since a minor car accident, and my 17 year old was just diagnosed with herniated disk, compressed nerve roots and slight arthritis of the spine.

Is it possible that there is a genetic component?

Since predisposition to things like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc are believed to have a genetic/heredity component then I personally can see no reason why other health issues can not as well.

For every one thing we know about genetics there are probably still 100 things we don't.

While medical knowledge has advanced a lot in just the last 50 years it really only shows how much we still have to learn.

Hi tired redhead, as far as there being a gene that says "you will have a bad back", no, I don't think so. But I do think your genetic makeup has a lot to do with how vulnerable you are to back injury. But I also think environment has a lot to do with it as well, ie, if your parents were hard workers physically, and they taught you to be the same, it's likely that you'd be at the same level of risk that they were to sustaining some form of externally related injury.

Like I said, I think your genes might have a little role it it, but I'm not sure how big of a role. I know myself, my mom, her brother, and her mother, all have back issues. Both my mom and grandmother have undergone single level cervical fusions, and lumbar microdiscectomies, and my uncle just had a two level artificial disc replacement cervical. But all of us had some
form of task related injury which caused the problems.

I would suspect that there might also be a genetic makeup that would make people more susceptible to arthritis, and other things like that so that could also be a factor in it. Interesting topic, might be something that someone will figure out one day, and tell people what there risks are for whatever career and hobbies they choose.

I know both my daughters were die hard softball players for years, as was I as a child and young adult. Also, we have been big into hiking and biking and rollerblading. A lot of house rehabbing has gone on, also. I can see where the three of us could have sustained a lot of wear and tear over the years.

I have two younger daughters, right now one is 10 and just as into sports as the rest of us were. I can't coddle her on the chance that she will end up the same way as us, but man I hate to think that allowing her to continue could possibly be setting her up for back problems down the road.

Hi TiredRedHead and welcome to the Chronic Pain Forum, as far as bad backs being genetic yes it can be! I say that because I have been told by several Doctors that it can be. Infact I seen the head on the Neurosurgery department at the University of Kentucky this past summer, and he asked about my family history concerning back problems and what type they were and who in my family had them. And he told me, that I most definitely got the bad genes, because of the extent of the problems in my back and the type of problems.  He has not been the only doctor or surgeon that has told me that. I have had three fusions in my neck, the bad disk in my thoracic area, they will not touch, and those ended my nursing career and put me on disability. I see a neurosurgeon the 5th of November for my lower back. ( again)  My father had a couple of fusions done on his lower back, and it runs on both sides of my family, although my mother did not have back problems one of her sisters and several of her brothers did, as well as her father, all of them had had numerous surgeries on their backs. Just as they have found that there is a Onco Gene, it does not mean you will get cancer but you have a better chance of it, if other factors are favorable for it. ie smoking and such. If you have back problems in your family and you have those genes and then you abuse your back and don't always treat it properly, then there is probably a greater possibility that you would have back problems too! Your genes determine who and what you are, and how your made, that is why everyone is so different. Subtle differences in the genetic code can make big differences on how you turn out.

 

White Beard

if your going to put anyone on glucosomine please make sure they are not allergic to sulpha.i tried it without knowing and had kidney shut down.then my dr. told me i can't take it for that reason.

I am bringing this thread back because there is at least one genetic syndrome that early onset osteoarthritis, including back pain is part of. Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. I ran across this by accident when I was looking up a word for a letter to my new doctor. It has to do with the collagen production in the body.

There are other collagen related syndromes that can mimic this one, and can cause back trouble. They too are hereditary.

But, on the other hand, until 2-3 generations ago, everyone did physical labor (even if you were a lawyer), no such thing as ergonomic chairs, bad body mechanics, had improper/insufficient diets, etc. So just because great gramma had back problems, does not mean there's a genetic component to that.