If i have Epilepsy, will my children have it too?

Question

I had Epilepsy in my childhood. Will my children become Epilepsy too?

Answer 1

Not necessarily. Did YOUR parents have it? It sometimes skips a generation or more. None of my six siblings except my brother has it, none of his 4 children does, but 2 of the grandchildren do.

Answer 2

I have petit-mal epilepsy, but no longer have seizures nor am I on medication. I have 4 siblings who have worse epilepsy than I do.

Genetically your have a greater chance of having epilepsy in your children but there is good news. In my time when I had epilepsy, some of the children diagnosed simply had less complete neurological development in their early years. In other words, as they grew, the nervous system developed more completely and the seizures stopped.

The other good news is people in general know more about epilepsy than they did years ago. Severe epileptics used to be institutionalized, and sometimes even sterlized to prevent having children.

Answer 3

I taught specific needs and between the youngsters that would pass my course now and back substitute right into a teenager that had the comparable ingredient, after a on a similar time as those round her would desire to make certain the tiny signs and indicators that one substitute into coming and would sparkling the section as maximum suitable as they might, much extra so whilst it substitute right into a technological know-how type. i myself advise which you seek for community golf equipment to connect with well matched parents, whether the different little ones have epilepsy or no longer, it extremely is by no potential too youthful for different childrens to make certain and learn that no longer each and every person is the comparable. job my memory is this the single variety that your new child will by no potential strengthen out of ?? and how are they treating it??

Answer 4

Not necessarily. My Aunt has Epilepsy and has had ever since I can remember. She had 4 children, and to my knowledge none of them have it. Ask your OB/GYN for specific details.

Answer 5

The chance of your child being epilepic is very high.. but you have to weigh the risks and benefits.. I have a son with epilepsy. And he had a VNS implanted.. Seziure free now!

Answer 6

Not necessarily. May be if the situation is similar, the possibility is a bit more, but it can be easily managed, by motivating them better when you are in a cheerful mood, and tell them about it only when they are quite mature.

Answer 7

Genetics can have a role in one form of epilepsy, but not all. Those epilepsy, having genetic factor, may be inherited by your children, but the sysmptom and the deasise may skip one generation, so, they may not have epilepsy. Following info was extracted from “Genetics of Epilepsy - Advanced“ website (http://www.geocities.com/geneinfo/conditions/epilepsya.html). I suggest you spend a few minutes to read the info provided on that site. Following is only extraction of som info from that site:

{“
Epilepsy is a broad term which refers to a condition in which an individual is susceptible to repeated, unprovoked seizures. During seizures, large numbers of neurons in the brain are activated involuntarily and synchronously. Seizures can take many different forms, depending on the region(s) of the brain involved. They may manifest as alterations in behaviour, consciousness, movement, perception and/or sensation.

Evidence for the role of genetics in epilepsy
Genetic factors are thought to play a role in many epilepsy syndromes. A small proportion of epilepsy syndromes are inherited as single-gene traits. In the remaining cases, the etiology of a syndrome is complex, arising from the contribution of multiple genetic and non-genetic factors. The role of genetic factors in multifactorial epilepsies is established from a variety of findings. These include twin studies, family aggregation studies, single-gene epilepsy syndromes, and animal models.

In family studies, Ottman et al., 1996 and others have demonstrated an elevated risk of epilepsy in relatives of probands compared to the general population. Depending on the specific diagnosis in the proband, the relative risk of epilepsy in relatives is approximately 2- to 3-fold.

The role of genetic factors in epilepsy varies according to the syndrome. In particular, while genetic factors are important in idiopathic and cryptogenic epilepsy syndromes, they do not appear to contribute significantly to susceptibility in epilepsy following postnatal brain injury. Also, genetic influences are stronger in generalized compared to localization-related epilepsies. Finally, the strong genetic contribution to epilepsy appears limited to seizures in people under 35 years (Ottman et al., 1996; Ottman et al., 1998; Berkovic et al, 1998).

Complex inheritance in epilepsy
Although there is substantial evidence that genetic factors contribute to epilepsy, the mode of inheritance, in most cases, is clearly complex. For the common epilepsy syndromes, the etiology is multifactorial, involving both genetic and environmental influences. Genetic factors in these conditions have incomplete penetrance. This represents a limitation in linkage analysis, because in cannot be assumed that unaffected family members do not carry the susceptibility allele. Other complex aspects of inheritance in epilepsy are genetic heterogeneity and variable expression. Finally, there is strong evidence for features of inheritance which cannot be explained by conventional genetic models: reproducible demonstration of a maternal effect and evidence for possible genetic anticipation.

The expression of epilepsy in an individual is the result of multiple genetic and environmental factors. In symptomatic epilepsy, environmental influences, namely damage to the brain, are the major determinants. In idiopathic and cryptogenic epilepsy syndromes, there appears to be a major role for genetic influences. These, however, are complex. Incomplete penetrance suggests that there are modifying factors. Even in the cases where a single major gene has been found responsible for a syndrome, variable severity of expression suggests modifying genetic or environmental factors (Berkovic, 2000). Models to describe how multiple etiological factors interact suggest that the independent influences on epilepsy have additive rather than multiplicative effects (Miller et al., 1998; Ottman, 1997).
“}

Answer 8

Genetics definately play a role, but it's not a definite. It just raises their chances from the "norm."

Nothing is predetermined. :)

Answer 9

Hey Baby! What's shakin'?

You'd want to ask your doctor about that.