Family History - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

kimpossible67 · 04-22-2008, 10:57 AM

I have just discovered that two family members on maternal side have MS.
One on paternal with MS.

G. Mother had severe psorisis (?) which is an auto immune.
My G. Grandfather had Parkinson's and his son died from Lou Gehrigs.

Scary. I'm scared for my kids if there is that much family history.

Bearygood · 04-22-2008, 11:12 AM

Kim, don't be scared!!! I would just regard it as something to be mindful about. I know of some parents with MS who keep a list of their children's sx and illness history. They don't share this with the child; they just keep it in case it might be useful one day. As I'm sure you know, there is a suspected genetic component to MS but not hereditary. I don't know how true this is but I've also read that the statistics are at least slightly higher from the paternal side. That said, just because someone in the family has it does not mean that others will get it -- it does not guarantee it will be passed down BUT if someone is experiencing sx of MS and there is a history, it is reason to be checked more seriously. I do believe in the genetic component but not necessarily that it applies to all.

No one in my family has MS. I recently asked my endocrinologist about my situation -- both my sister and I are Hypothyroid with Hashimoto's (autoimmune version of Hypothyroidism), regarded very frequently to be hereditary and my mother was also Hypothyroid. I asked him about the hereditary component and he responded that what I actually inherited was a tendency for my body to make antibodies against itself. That made/makes sense to me.

If I had known about this stuff earlier in life (my mother and father did not share a lot about their health) I might have researched and tried to do more to support my immune system. No guarantee that it would have worked but that's just what I would have done.

kimpossible67 · 04-22-2008, 12:36 PM

Thank you for responding Beary. My boys often comment about the chances of them having MS. They are in their teens and we are open about most everything. I know it worries them.

Nenu · 04-22-2008, 12:54 PM

Kim, thinking of family situations/history can be overwhelming, especially when you're thinking of the future and children. I worried about heart disease, which runs in the males in our family (both sides). I ended up with MS, which is nowhere in my family.

While MS can be hereditary, it can also be extremely random. It may never affect your offspring.

Your children (if that's in your future) will be better off, and you'll be aware of the potential for MS, versus my situation where in my wildest dreams, I never suspected MS, wasn't something I was looking for, and probably went on undiagnosed longer than it should have.