70% of males on my dad's side have MS..?

Question

70% of males on my dad's side have MS..?

Am I more likely to have it? Or is it a safe bet I do have it? This bothers me.Just need to know.

Multiple Sclerosis ( I believe that's how it is spelled)

Answer 1

These are highlights of my research that might be of interest to you and your questions:

Who gets MS?

Most of the people who are diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 20 and 50. More than two thirds of people with MS are female and predominantly Caucasian.


What will happen to me?

Age at onset and gender may also be indicators of the long-term course of the disease. MS has in general little impact in how long patients live. Some research has indicated that younger age at onset [under 16 years of age] implies a more favorable prognosis. This must be tempered though by the knowledge that a young adult living with MS for 20 or 30 years may result in substantial disability, even if the progress toward disability is slow and he or she is relatively mildly affected in the first 10 or 15 years. Other research has indicated that late onset [i.e. over 55 years of age], particularly in males, may indicate a progressive course of the disease


Can I have children?


The decision to have a family should be considered carefully when one or both partners has MS. Many couples are concerned about the risk that their children will also get MS. It is important to remember that while there is a slightly increased risk of MS in the offspring where one of the parents has MS compared to the general population, that risk is still very low.



Inheriting MS


While the heredity of MS is not clear-cut, close relatives of people with MS have an increased risk compared with the general population of people who do not have any family link. Results from family studies on MS suggest that the lifetime risk for a child of a parent with MS to also develop MS ranges from 3-5%, if the MS parent is the only family member with the disorder. The risk figure will vary if there are several family members with MS and/or MS occurs on both the maternal and paternal side


Causes of MS are unknown.

Research shows that genetic factors and environmental factors play a vital role. Although, no evidence exists that MS is directly inherited, the risk of MS is significantly higher when someone in your family is living with MS. The closer the relative, and the more similar your genes are, the higher your risk. MS is also seen most frequently in geographic locations with cool latitudes. As latitude increases, MS becomes most common.


MS is a nuerological disease which affects different people in different ways which is one reason it is both hard to diagnose as well as hard to treat. In some it may affect the eyes thru optic nerves( Optic nueritis) Others it affects extremities such as arms,legs and balance. In most cases it also affects cognitive thought process and memory.(Basic thinking and problem solving)


How MS causes these physical changes and brain short circuits: The easiest way to explain MS is to compare it to basic electricity in ones house. MS causes a persons immune system to attack the protective coating around the nerves in ones body known as the Mylen sheath eating away the mylen sheath.The Mylen sheath is like the insulation around a wire and the nerve would be the wire. Just as in an electrical circuit if you touch 2 bare wires something will short out.In this scenario a brain signal telling a body part to move gets "shorted "out somewhere on its path.




What are early warning signs of MS ?

David Landers the actor known best for his role as Squiggy on the show Laverne and Shirley was diagnosed in 1984 and recently wrote a book Fall Down Laughing,How Squiggy got MS and Didn't Tell Nobody. His early signs were that he woke up one day and was unable to walk. His Dr. told him he would probably not walk again.He was hospitalized and treated with Steroids and was walking again in a matter of days Shelley on the other hand had her eyesight affected with blurred vision and double vision as well as suffering from vertigo. MS is an equal opportunity afflicter but most commonly affecting women and cases in men are by no means rare. It has not been found to be hereditary however as with all illnesses and diseases certain genes may make one more susceptible to having the disease.




You can get more info re this disease from the below link:

MS Pathways - Welcome to MS Pathways
... thought that the destruction of myelin was the major problem in MS. ... While the heredity of MS is not clear-cut, close relatives of people with MS have an ...www.mspathways.com/welcome_to_ms_pathways/your_beta_nurses/faqs.jsp



Our B.E.T.A. Nurses have answered a number of frequently asked questions so that you have information you need at your fingertips. If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, you can contact a B.E.T.A Nurse 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by calling MS Pathways at 1-800-788-1467.

Answer 2

I have M.S., so I've done quite a bit of research on it. It is rare for men to get M.S., so obviously the males in your family have some genetic link which causes them to get M.S. Are you at risk? Absolutely. However, some people who have M.S. never know they have it. There have been cadavears in medical research studies that are loaded with lesions from M.S., so badly that the person should have physically unable to walk or function, however, the person never knew they had M.S. and lived a perfectly normal life. The only advice I can give you is try to live a healthy lifestyle and minimum the stress in your life. If you experience some M.S. like symptoms, insist that your doctor perform an MRI or spinal tap to see if you have M.S. Then, if you find that you do have M.S., start a treatment plan to help slow the progression of the disease. My first symptom was going blind in my right eye for six weeks. I had an MRI which was inconclusive. Two years later I went numb on my right side for six weeks. My second MRI showed lesions on my brain and spine. Now I give myself interferon shots three times a week and I take anti-depressants. Two years later my disease is stable, no symptoms and my last MRI showed no grow in my lesions and no additional lesions. My main focus is getting plenty of sleep and avoiding stress. Hopefully you don't develop M.S., but if you do, it's not the end of the world. I still work full-time and I am finishing up my first year of law school, so it hasn't affected my life at all. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

It tends to run in families, so watch for any early symptoms and have a doctor check you regularly. You might be spared though.

This site has some good info:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HOM_ABOUT_who_gets_ms

The average person in the United States has about one chance in 750 of developing MS. But relatives of people with MS, such as children, siblings or non-identical twins, have a higher chance—ranging from one in 100 to one in 40. The identical twin of someone with MS, who shares all the same genes, has a one in three chance of developing the disease.
These facts tell us that genes are important for determining who may get MS, but they are not the whole story: The identical twin of a person with MS would always get MS if genes were the only factor involved.

In addition to genes, other factors—perhaps exposure to germs or viruses—play a part in causing MS. That is why scientists say that MS is not directly inherited. Genetic factors determine who is susceptible to the unknown outside trigger.

Answer 4

You are at risk, but try and look on the positive side, there is a % of males who DON'T have it. I wish you all the best.