Chances of ALS in Family

[chaoslord2]

is someone in your family has als, what are the chances you can get it? like is a parent has it, what odds are the children will (are they more likely than the general public)???

 

[Summerlicious]

I don't know the odds, but there are three types of ALS

1. familial (heriditary)
2. Guam (high number of people from the island of Guan that have ALS)
3. sporadic (which is the most common...just hits at random)

As far as the chances of getting it if a family member has it, that I don't know. And I believe it's 2 or more family members (not just one) must have to have it for it to be considered familial.

 

[Fritillaries]

My mother and 4 of her brothers and sisters had ALS, so this is something I pretty much stay on top of.

Heres what I have learned..

There are 3 types of Autosomal Recessive and 8 types of Autosomal Dominant varieties of ALS today (assuming my Geneticist at Duke University were correct when I spoke to them in July 2006)

Autosomal Recessive - Both parents must have the recessive gene in order for you to get ALS, and you must inherit this recessive gene from each parent, your chance of inheriting these two genes is 25%.

Autosomal Dominant - If you have one parent that has an Autosomal Dominant type, then your chances are 50% of inheriting this gene that causes ALS.

The only commercially available test as of July 2006, is for the a gene commonly called the SOD1 enzyme or protein mutation.

So that leaves 7 identified types of Autosomal Dominant ALS and 3 types of Autosomal recessive ALS that are undetectable by currently available tests today. More tests will become available as they are perfected and commercialized in the future.

It is also thought there may be more undiscovered gene mutations that may cause ALS.