Has there been any research in to whether va... - Vasculitis UK

Vasculitis UK

7,759 members6,736 posts

Has there been any research in to whether vasculitis is hereditary? I have 5 children and would like to be forewarned just in case thankyou

Starburst profile image
6 Replies
Written by
Starburst profile image
Starburst
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
6 Replies
Chris-Bromsgrove profile image
Chris-Bromsgrove

Hi Starburst,

I think it would be wrong to say vasculitis is hereditary but our genes do play a part. Some people are genetically predisposed to developing vasculitis but there also needs to be some sort trigger to start it off, for example a bad virus or stress. In my own family line my mother's mother, my mother, myself and my daughter all have/had autoimmune diseases of one sort or another. I am the only one with vasulitis but my mother has PMR which is closely related.

I am not aware of any cases where two or more generations in a family have vasculitis but it is possible.

Hope this helps.

Chris

PMRpro profile image
PMRpro

Yes, as Chris says it is not so much that any of these autoimmune disorders are inherited from a parent but much more that they tend to appear in people with certain patterns of genes - missing or damaged bits of their DNA. That alone though isn't enough to "cause" the illness as is the case with cystic fibrosis or Downs syndrome - a trigger of some kind is almost certainly involved as well.

No one knows what it is that triggers the immune system to misbehave - suggestions have included chemicals in the environment and viral or bacterial infections but there is nothing they have found yet that is common to all cases (so don't believe the claims you often see in the media or on the internet). It is because of this lack of a known "cause" or particular "thing" that goes wrong that it is so difficult to diagnose or find a cure - so it is usually the symptoms that are dealt with until the autoimmune part dies away or goes into remission.

And as Chris says - if one of us has one autoimmune disease we are more likely to develop another than if we didn't have one. That may also be due to the fact that the symptoms of a dodgy immune system are points across a very long range - what the doctors tell you you have is the name that someone has given a particular set of symptoms. Then later your body produces a few more - so is this a new illness or is an extension of what you already have? Then they call it an "overlap". You could think of it as like different cars - all makes have similarities to others but they are also obviously different if you know what to look at. Or the manufacturer takes a basic version and adds thing to it until the end result is quite different from that first version but it is obvious what the parent vehicle was.

And if we have a wobbly bit on various genes the chances are they could be handed on to a child, or your genes mixing with the other parent's genes might create a pattern that causes something else or even - and this is the good part - changing that damaged bit so it no longer causes a problem.

John_Mills profile image
John_MillsVolunteer

Good morning Starburst,

Two very good replies above. I like the analogy of the cars - the basic model being repeatedly changed until it doesn't resemble the original. We will get more answers in the next ten years as more genetic studies take place - that is part of the reason for the Vasculitis Registry - the new database of clinical information about vasculitis patients that is being funded by Vuk.

It does seem to be more a matter of having a predisposition to having one of the many auto-immune disease, rather than having a specific AI disease.

The reality is that your children will have only a slightly increased risk of having an auto-immune disease compared to the average person.

Zebra profile image
Zebra

Thanks all, very helpful answers above. John, do you know anything about the risks of children developing it where BOTH parents have Vasculitis? I know there won't be many examples on this but would value anything you know. Thanks.

Sarahjh2004 profile image
Sarahjh2004

My daughter is tested every 6 months as she already has urticaria. We were told that she has a 50%-100% of getting Huvs. I think it is more to do with some blood transfusions I had before she was born. The consultants specifically asked if i'd had any (4 on the birth of my son - they didn't do the tests they do these days on transfusions.)

So is it hereditary? We've been told yes and no....??? But we do know there is a significant chance it can be passed down the line through other means. Incidentally my twin not have vasculitis.

Suzym2u profile image
Suzym2uModeratorVasculitis UK in reply to Sarahjh2004

this is interesting Sarah, we know of identical twins, one who has WG and one who does not. They are both male and born 10 minutes apart. They both live not far from us.