I've been reading about how some of your parents have or had RA and I was wondering if it can run in families?
I have the same toe/foot problems as my mom. She was never DX with RA, but from what I've learn from this board, it sounds as if she had it. Plus her sister had very bad arthritis.
Thanks for your replies in advance.
Marisa
Yes~It often runs in families...but many, many here have no one in their family that have RA that they know of.
My Grandmother had sever OA. Alot of our symptoms seem to match up; but my doctors call my RA and hers never did. I suspect had my Grandmother went for treatment earlier it might have been called RA but considering she was as old as she was when she started getting treatment they just called it OA. Strange though how both joints on both sides were affected for her. Both knees, both hands, both shoulders.....that's present in RA; but not always the case with OA.
They think there is a biological gene that gets triggered by some event like stress, auto accidents, etc. that runs in families. That's why some people never get RA and others do within the same family. Also, it seems that siblings, parents, children may not get RA but get another autoimmune disease instead.
No one in my family, parents, grand parents, siblings have anything like this. Unfortunately, my daughter developed FM a couple of years ago. She is 25 now and she shows signs that she might develop RA. I know she is scared to death.
I think I'm adopted though. It's not true. But sometimes I wish I was. My parents and siblings have been very cruel.
I have RA, lupus, and daibetes I guess these are all suppose to run in the family but for some reason Im the only one with any of these problems. The only think that I have that is in the family is asthma.It does run in my family. My maternal grandmother and grandfather had it as does my mother. My aunt also has it.
It seems to run in my family.
Iam a mystery child anyway. I also have had weird blood work when I was younger The Blood work would say I had JRA only when I was flaring and when I wasn't evertyhing came back good. I was at the doctors once to twice a week when I was younger with treatments and blood work.I guess they never figured it out then nothing until recently. At least 15yrs later.Same with the lupus too.No-one in my family remembers anyone recently having RA. I read somewhere that they think RA can come from an untreated infection. Several months before the onset of my RA, I had strep throat, took the RX for a couple days until I felt better then stopped. I don't know if it had anything to do with getting RA. I make sure my family takes all of their antibiotics now when they get sick, just in case.
When I was having my first flare and didn't know what it was, I went to my GP. After taking a look at me and after asking about family members who have RA (My Dad has RA, Psoriatic and OA) he was convinced I had RA. He did all the bloodwork and referred me to a rheumatologist as soon as my results came in. I'm lucky I didn't have to wait too long for a diagnosis to start treatment. I am the only one in my family to ever have RA.....I hope I'm the last!It does run in families at times. I am adopted and just found my birth family. My birth grandmother had RA, my birth mother has RA and fibro, my birth sister has Lupus. My cousin's wife's family is full of people with different forms of arthritis. I think her mother (who was just diagnosed with RA) has eight brothers and sisters and all of them have some form of arthritis. I guess it just depends on your genes. Just like it runs in families, I am sure there are people who have no history of the disease. It is a really strange thing. I am the only one in my family formally diagnosed with RA. My grandmother , who would be over a hundred if she were living today, had scoliosis and arthritis in both hands, knees, and back. My aunt, who is a nurse, says she had OA. I have an uncle with very severe OA. Back problems seem to run in my family too. My younger sister has problems with OA and hearing loss.My brother and I also have premature hearing loss .From what I have been reading the finding now is that the gene that makes you likely to have RA is hereditary. So your parents may not have had RA, but you were predisposed for it because of your genes.
My Mom and her sister both have RA. My moms cousin has MS. There are other more distant relatives in the family that have various auto immune disorders.
Thanks to all who replied. My mother had very crooked toes on both feet and was always complaining that her feet were burning. Her feet would be red and swollen. She had a hard time finding shoes that were comfortable. She would go to work and when she came home, she would be so tired. She couldn't walk for any distance without complaining about her feet. She would say that her feet wouldn't be like that if she wore the right shoes, wider ones. So we got her wider ones. Didn't help.