My grandma had this disease, is it hereditory? - PBC Foundation

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My grandma had this disease, is it hereditory?

mandijt profile image
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mandijt profile image
mandijt
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zipitydoo profile image
zipitydoo

I was advised to have my children tested so it is a possibility.

I am sure my late father had PBC even tho it was never diagnosed. He passed away before I was diagnosed but looking back he had all the symtoms plus very itchy skin on an night which I don,t have.

mandijt profile image
mandijt

ok thanks. When My grandma died (10 years ago) my mum did ask her gp if she would need testing, or indeed if me and my sisters would also need to be tested - and no one seemed to know! I do have a rare autoimmune disease so think it may be wise to ask my gp for some advice.

take care

Jtxx profile image
Jtxx in reply to mandijt

They say that it is genetic but not hereditory. Also if you already have an automimmune disease then you are more succeptable to other ones. My mother had PBC and her older sister has it. Other members of the family have under active thyroids. It all seems so individual and I don't thinks the professional know enough about it which only fuels my frustrations and probably everyone else with the condition.

my liver dr, when i first began this 'trip' said anyone in my family could have it, anyone in the past in my family could have had it -- everyone should get checked -- thank heavens i am the ONLY one so far diagnosed with it -- (i don't wish this on anyone i know)

I don't know for sure but I think my mother and her mother had PBC, my grandmother always had her legs bandaged as her skin was very dry and she would rip it to bits if she got at it, I am unsure if she was bandaged else where. My mother had all the same complaints that I am now getting but both of them were never tested but I just have this feeling about them when I sit and think about it.

I'd like to think it isn't.

I did have a thought that maybe my gran (mother's mother) may have had PBC given a few minor irritations she had (but she stayed away from doctors, used her own home cures (she was born 1910)) but will never know. My mother died when she was 43 (something completely different) so I have never thought about it.

I'm of the opinion that what you don't know.....

....plus there's no guarantee if people take the test they'll develop PBC as I understand it from a medical version, it would be whatever has triggered the PBC in the first place that would have to cause it in someone else. As the trigger is not known....... I personally can't see the point in worrying and wondering.

Beanie profile image
Beanie

I think I read that if you have PBC, there is a 1 in 40 chance that your direct female relatives will have it (it's usually about 1 in 1000 woman over 40 in the general population). But there is a correlation with other autoimmune disorders. My dad has Sarcoidosis, my mum has Lichen Planus, and my older sister has Hypothyroidism and Rhuematoid Arthritis, all of which apparently are autoimmune disorders, so I was just an autoimmune disorder waiting to happen!

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