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Does anyone else in your family have MS?

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Posted 9/30/2006 7:49 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

 

I read an earlier post, and it got me wondering...

 

My uncle and great aunt had MS, both on my mother's side... does in run in your family?

 

Shar

Posted 9/30/2006 11:36 AM (GMT 0)
No one else in my family has MS. There is one aunt (now deceased) who had rheumatoid arthritis, and another (also deceased) who had lupus -- both of which are autoimmune disease. There is some evidence that autoimmune diseases "run in families".
Posted 9/30/2006 3:42 PM (GMT 0)

Hey Shar

Yes, i have some family who have ms. My father's dad had it and my first cuz on his side also has it. I've been thinking about this topic too and am glad u started this thread. As u may have read, i have psoriasis which has gotten worse since all my symptoms began and as funny as it may sound, seems to worsen when my symptoms act up. Also, my daughter is potentially looking at ra, which as Uppity pointed out, is autoimmune as well. I think this whole pic is pretty intertwined, tho we may never have proof of it. Thanks for starting this and i'm looking forward to seeing the responses u get.

rhonda

Posted 9/30/2006 8:16 PM (GMT 0)
No, no one else in my husband's family has MS, but there are other autoimmune diseases present. It will be interesting to see everyone's answers to this. On my side of the family, my grandmother, mother and myself were all diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Posted 10/1/2006 12:59 AM (GMT 0)
My first cousin has ms.  She was 21 at the time and was in a nursing home by 4 years.  It was fast and furious.  Linda

Posted 10/1/2006 3:53 AM (GMT 0)

Hey, I'm new here and newly diagnosed with MS just this past thursday.  I have been waiting for a diagnosis for about 12 years now.  I have a younger brother who has been diagnosed with MS for about 3 years now.  He only had symptoms for about 6 months before diagnosis.  We both have other autoimmune diseases ( I have Graves disease and he has Alopecia) and there are many autoimmune diseases that run on both my mother's and my father's side of the family.  My mother has been struggling with Trigeminal Neuralgia for about 25 years and has recently developed some other MS symptoms and has been sent for an MRI which has not yet been done.    

I have to say that this site is a god send for me.  It makes me realize that I am not alone in this struggle and I am not the only one who had to struggle to get a difinitive diagnosis.  My Doctor was extremely worried about how to tell me the news on Thursday.  I have to say that when he said "there have been some significant adverse changes on your MRI,"  the first emotions that I felt were happiness and relief.  I felt about 20  years younger and about 50 pounds lighter.  I know this may sound weird and it's not like I want to have MS but now the Doctors can't call me a hypochondriac or crazy and tell me there is nothing wrong with me.

Posted 10/1/2006 5:41 AM (GMT 0)
My mother was diagnosed about 10 yrs ago with MS. I was just diagnosed with MS yesterday.
Posted 10/1/2006 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
I'm the only one. Lucky me.
Posted 10/1/2006 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I have 2 cousins with MS, had a cousin with Lupus and her mother had ALS (Lou Gherics) so yes I believe that autoimmune diseases tend to run in families.

 

Soulflower

Posted 10/4/2006 5:04 PM (GMT 0)
I am the first, that I can find that is, with MS, and my twin sister has fibromyalgia.
Posted 10/5/2006 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
I have an aunt with MS, an aunt with crones and a great aunt had lupus.
Posted 10/6/2006 8:08 AM (GMT 0)
Wow!

 

That's 7 people so far with MS in their family, and 4 without.  Almost double!  Makes me wonder if this information is right... or maybe I'm reading it wrong?

 

From http://www.mswatch.com/education/siblingsection.aspx?SectionId=145e7e0f-2321-4a57-bcf7-8bb9b4ef7c7f

 

MS is not directly inherited; rather there is increasing evidence that susceptibility to the disease may be inherited. Although it may be possible to inherit an increased risk of developing MS, genes are certainly not the only factor involved. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), for a member of the general population the chance of developing MS is less than 0.1%. For someone who has a family member (parent, child or sibling) with MS, there is a 1 - 3% chance of developing the disease.

 

 

Posted 10/6/2006 10:02 AM (GMT 0)
You're reading it right. That's the issue -- it isn't DIRECTLY inherited (like, if two people with it produce a child, the child will definitely have MS), but rather the SUSCEPTIBILITY to it is inherited. There's an increased risk, but there are likely other external factors involved -- virus, environment, etc.

But still -- the difference between 0.1% and 1-3% isn't huge. While I chose not to have children when the MS was diagnosed, it wasn't so much a matter of worrying that I'd transmit it to them, but more economic, and the concern that I'd be significantly disabled and unable to give them proper care, or be placing a larger burden than necessary on my husband, who would be then responsible for the major child rearing responsibilities.

But of course my diagnosis was way before any of the disease-modifying drugs were available...
Posted 10/10/2006 3:17 PM (GMT 0)

After I was diagnosed, we learned that my father's cousin has MS.  She lives quite far away, and I'm not sure if I've even met her.  I think that is my only family connection to the MonSter.

TLC

Posted 10/18/2006 11:58 AM (GMT 0)

On my dad's side my uncle has it.  He's had it for 21 years now.  Only just last year he got in a wheelchair.  He was swimming laps 3 times a week.  So when I got dx'd I was not afraid and did not think of it as a death sentence just another hurdle to climb over and it's a tough one to battle but I get by every day.

I have 10 uncles and 2 aunts and 40 first cousin's on my dad's side so far I am the only one that's been dx'd with MS other than the one uncle.  :-)

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