Lupus

[jensen_lynne]

Can you get lupus when your long distance relative has lupus? Can it still run in families?

[Wendy39]

Hi, again. I think that it doesn't necessarily run in families, that it is not considered an hereditary disease. You do have to have a genetic predisposition to it, i.e. Rheumatoid arthritis or auto immune diseases somewhere in your family, but that doesn't automatically mean you will get it. There is thought to then be a trigger, to set the disease off. Hormones can be one. So women of child bearing age is a common trigger. It was for me, it came on after the birth of my third child. Also environmental triggers, stress and the Epstein Barr virus. I can't think of any others right now. If you are new here and need reliable information about lupus and diagnosis, take a look at Lupus UK's website. It is very informative and has lots of information leaflets on the various symptoms, treatments and preparing for appointments. They can also recommend consultants and hospitals. Best wishes.

[Paul_Howard Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi jensen_lynne ,

Lupus does have a genetic component and so we do sometimes observe families that have more than one person with the disease, or with other autoimmune conditions. Lupus is not strictly hereditary because it has a large number of genes involved in its development (around 68 currently known) and it also requires an environmental trigger. In fact, even in identical twins where one develops lupus, only 25% of the time will the other twin also develop lupus.

Some recent findings have suggested that if a woman has lupus, there may be approximately odds of 1 in 70 that her child will also develop lupus. The odds reduce if it is a male who has lupus and if it is a distant relative then the odds would decrease significantly more because you only inherit half your genes from any one parent.