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Inheritance of UC

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/17/2010 4:31 PM (GMT 0)
My mother has UC. I have UC. Now my sister has just been diagnosed.

Does anyone know the chances of a child getting UC if their father and paternal grandmother has it? Should this affect whether or not I have children?
Posted 2/17/2010 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know what the odds are for passing the gene on to children but you shouldn't allow that to influence your decision in having children. If your children did inherit the gene, by then there will be more treatment options available to control the disease.

Sue
Posted 2/17/2010 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
My mother didn't have it; my aunt did. One of my sons has it, the other doesn't. My UC son is bright, delightful, talented... his UC is a small part of who he is.

When one becomes a parent, there is always the chance that a child will be born with a disability or come into one later in life.... or be in an accident and need care..... I think one's ability and willingness to cope with all kinds of unknown is the main question here, not just UC.
Posted 2/17/2010 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
I have did some research on this also since i have a young son and a lot a studies say your child would only have a 5-10 percent chance of developing UC. Dont let 5-10 percent chance keep you from having the joy in your life of having children. My son is one of the few things that keep me going when im in a flare up.
Posted 2/17/2010 4:55 PM (GMT 0)
I forgot to say i do have a really big family and nobody has ever had issues with UC until me.

Posted 2/17/2010 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
My brother has UC, a cousin has it and my grandfather potentially had it. I don't have it yet, but my small child does. When I decided to have children I never imagined something like this could happen to be honest. She has always had a very healthy diet, no chemicals in the house, very little tv etc etc. I was doing everything "right" and I was and am devestated. But as songlady says, she will not be defined by this, it is managable (I hope!) and is a wonderful child. However, I do think it's something you should consider. Will you be able to deal with your child developing this or anything else? I never considered it and my decision would not have been any different but it would have been an important process to go through I think. Having said that, I have several people who are very close to me who have gone through pretty severe medical crises and live great lives, so that helps me gain perpective on this situation. And as Suebear says, hopefully there'll be better treatments for this thing sooner than later, I'm not too sure of what's in the pipes drug-wise.
Posted 2/17/2010 4:56 PM (GMT 0)
I'm the only person in my family (besides an adopted cousin who has Crohn's) who has an IBD. While I believe there is a genetic component, one clearly doesn't have to have an IBD to pass those genes on. I wasn't diagnosed until after my son was born, but I'm not going to let the risk of passing it on to any other children keep me from having more. I might not have any more if I'm not able to maintain a solid remission, but that's different. I really like what songlady said...there's always a chance that your child will be born with a disability or have a debilitating accident, but don't let that stop you from experiencing the joy of parenthood. Also, I think we're making real progress with treatment, so if my children do have UC, I believe they will have better treatment options.
Posted 2/17/2010 6:46 PM (GMT 0)
My great grandmother had it, and my grandmother. My grandmother's children didn't get it (my dad) and my brother doesn't have it.
Posted 2/17/2010 7:16 PM (GMT 0)
I believe my mom had it and maybe my aunt on my dad's side....don't know about others since I was kind of out of the loop when I was diagnosed.

I've inherited lots of stuff familially....I/we made the decision to not have kids.

I don't care if there are better treatment options. Most people here agonise at hearing a child has UC....nothing that's good about it.

Besides, UC and all its "sides" and extraintestinal diseases/disorders suck as well.

But, we only have one go around, if you want to have kids, do it. One shouldn't go by statistics, for it doesn't mean it applies to you.
If one makes the decision to have kids..go for it. Just don't regret it after the fact if kids are sick or have disease or whatever disabilities, etc and thinks the world owes them because of it.

quincy
Posted 2/17/2010 7:57 PM (GMT 0)
I have crohn's, my mom has UC, which she develolped 5 yrs AFTER I develped crohn's, so I actually got sick with IBD before my mom did...I'm the youngest of 6 and the only child that has an IBD (so far), my eldest sister has IBS (I have IBS as well but didn't develop that until around 7 yrs ago, well after have CD which was since 1991). There is no ryme or reason, maybe if any of my smoking siblings quit smoking, they *might* develop UC, who knows, my mom never smoked she has UC....I have/do (have quit a few times over the yrs and started again as well).

According to Dr.Kevin Rioux from the University of Alberta, the is a -10 to -15 fold increased risk of an offspring developing an IBD (either CD or UC) if one parent has an IBD (either UC or CD). But they have yet to figure out exactly how it's passed, it's not as easy to map it the way cystic fibrosis (for example) is. Also, it's estimated that in the case of twins, if one twin has IBD (crohns for example) the other twin has a 40-60% chance of also developing the same type of IBD (crohn's in this example).

:)
Posted 2/17/2010 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
     My dad had diverticulitis and had a portion of his colon removed because he developed a pouch.  His mother, my paternal grandmother, died from cancer of the bowel....but that was in 1952 and I do think she had ulcerative colitis that went undiagnosed.  My mother and her entire side of the family, other than having a hemorrhoid operation in the 50's, had no record of having an IBD.

     I wasn't diagnosed till I was 52 yrs old, eleven years ago.  I have two grown daughters who, so far, do not have symptoms of IBD.  Thank God.  Two grandchildren, ages 13 and 9...no symptoms either..whew!

Posted 2/17/2010 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
As far as I know, I am the only one with UC in my family; no one on either side of the family has ever had it.

I am alone...sad

NBT
Posted 2/17/2010 8:51 PM (GMT 0)

NuffinButtTrouble said...
As far as I know, I am the only one with UC in my family; no one on either side of the family has ever had it.

I am alone...sad

NBT

same here. welcome to the club!
Posted 2/17/2010 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
I am the only one in my family with an IBD. My mom has IBS and diverticulitis (sometimes I swear she has an IBD), my mom's mom has diverticulitis, and one of my mom's grandmothers (I can't remember which one) died of a bowel obstruction. Even before I was born I was having digestive issues...
I read somewhere that there is a stronger incidence of passing on Crohn's to offspring than UC. Not sure if that's true or not though. I had a teacher in high school who had Crohn's and he and his wife decided to adopt instead of having biological kids for fear of passing it on. Honestly, I wouldn't let that hold me back from having my own kids. There's a greater chance that they don't get it.
Posted 2/18/2010 2:11 AM (GMT 0)
Thus far, I am the only one in my family with IBD. NOT the only one with AI though-my dad has psoriasis and my brother has mild vitiligo. But none of us had even heard of UC before I was diagnosed with it in 2008.

I was diagnosed with UC after having had both of my girls, so it wasn't on my radar prior to, but I still hope to move forward with having another child at some point, God willing. I pray everyday that they are not afflicted with this or any other diseases or illnesses, but I would not have opted out of having children because of this. I also agree with songlady-you just never know what cards you will be dealt, but I wouldn't trade my children for anything in the world. Having a family was/is my dream. Even on my darkest days, my kids bring so much joy to me. (you should have seen the cute little cards they made with my mom for me today while I was at the GI's-they are the sweetest girls, and they just want their mommy to feel better)

You have to follow your instincts on this one. But if you want to have a family, I definitely would not discount it just because of this disease.
Posted 2/18/2010 2:16 AM (GMT 0)
I am the only person in my family that has IBD, as far as I know. My mom does deal with intestinal issues, she's always taking fiber and complaining about her gut and my dad has diverticulitis. My mom also has issues with eczyma. I don't really know what kind of health issues they have, kind of don't ask, don't tell. They don't know I have IBD.

I don't think you should let IBD stop you from having children. I, personally, don't know if I will have children, partly because I am scared to pass on the IBD but mostly because I don't feel like my health is up to that kind of challenge. Maybe if I figure out a solution to my fatigue, I could consider children but right now, I don't see myself having the energy to devote to children.

Posted 2/18/2010 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
I'm another one in the 'nobody else has UC' club. However my mom has asthma and joint problems, I suspect she may even have lupus (undiagnosed).

On the other hand, one of my best friends has it as well and has a family history of rectal bleeding and colon cancer.
Posted 2/18/2010 2:24 AM (GMT 0)
My dad was diagnosed with it in 1992, and had his colon removed in 1993. I inherited it from my dad. :( So far, my brother hasn't gotten this stupid gene.
Posted 2/18/2010 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
I had a great grandmother with some kind of IBD. I think they called it colonitis back then. One of my grandfathers had diverticulitis and one of my sisters has Crohn's.
Posted 2/18/2010 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
On my mothers side, my uncle and aunt has it. Uncle tries to control through meds, and my aunt smokes and keeps it under control pretty good just doing that. My brother also had a serious problem with same area as a child. Nerves in rectum and sigmoid were dead, so they had to take that out and pull colon down and re- attach. Hircshsprung's
Posted 2/18/2010 2:53 PM (GMT 0)
I have UC. I was diagnosed after my mother had a severe flare with hers. I was diagnosed with IBS 40 yrs. ago and believe I have had UC undiagnosed for several years. My mother's father had it. My daughter has severe IBS and so does her daughter.....so both of them may have the IBS turn into UC later according to family patterns. I have heard that UC is an autoamune disease. Is this correct? My daughter and grandaughter also have extremely severe psorisis. I am new and this is my first post.
Posted 2/19/2010 2:23 AM (GMT 0)
I have bipolar and schizophrenic family members. The bipolar genes are on my mom's side, and the schizophrenic genes are on my dad's side. I wanted to have children; so I married someone from halfway around the world. I figured his genes would be very different from mine.

I was lucky. Neither of my children are bipolar or schizophrenic. As for colitis, I didn't get it until my mid 40s. Plus, I figure I got it from all the antibiotics I took. Luckily, my kids don't have the skin issues I have, and they don't get infections as easily as me. No one seems worried about getting colitis. They all have strong digestive systems and believe I get flareups because of all the antibiotics I've taken.
Posted 2/19/2010 2:39 AM (GMT 0)
I'm the only one with an IBD in my family too! Go us.

My mom has fibromyalgia, is that an AI? I thought maybe it was? At one point she thought it was lupus, I dunno if she still thinks that or not.
My dad has spirocytosis (sp?) and diabetes runs in his family, but no bowel issues for anyone.
Posted 2/19/2010 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts!
Posted 2/19/2010 4:57 AM (GMT 0)
My GI said there is a 15% chance of passing on UC to your child(ren) if one parent has it, 50% if both parents have it. I wouldn't let UC affect your decision on having children. I have 2 little ones. I nursed both of them for many reasons, but also to help start them out with a healthy gut flora. I'm hoping for a cure in the near future anywho.

I have no idea where UC comes from in my family. As far as I know no one has had it. Tho 2 family members have had colon cancer. My great aunt passed from it and my aunt has been cancer free for 10 years but she doesn't have IBD. So who knows!
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