Can RA be hereditary | Arthritis Information

Good Morning,

I have a strange thing happening in my house and I am scared it is my fault. I was dx'd in July and have had a hard time dealing with this stinkin disease. Now, 6 days ago last sunday my 16 yr old daughter said mom look at my hands. all of the knuckles on her hand were red, swollen and burning. At first we thought she got into something and was having a allergic reaction. We did the normal benedryl, creams, etc. I finally took her to our pd on wed. and as we are driving there it hits me oh god this could be jra!!! But I didn't say it out loud and tried not to even think it. As my pd is looking at her hands and talking to us he said to me. Lets give her a antihistamine for 10 days and see if it gets better, before we explore weather it is jra. Now I have said nothing to this point about jra and here he says it. When we left my daughter said to me I was afraid it could be ra but I wasn't sure kids could get it. I am terrified that she has this and if it is hereditary I also feel very guilty. I am adopted and don't know a whole lot about my family history but it appears a grandmother had it. I know that some of you on this board have jra can you tell me how yours presented and could this be what is happening to her.

Well, it isn't exactly confirmed in studies....but if you ask 90% of us here...our parents have it as well. :/ It's alright though, don't let it scare you. You don't even know if thats what it is! And, if it is, it seems that you've caught it very early, which is GREAT. Try to keep your chin up! I got JRA when I was just a baby, and have lived almost a completely normal life. I won't lie, I've had my moments, but I think I'm a stonger person for it! Good luck and keep us posted!

Katie

2angels

If you speak with your childs doctor - I'm sure they will tell you that auto-immune diseases can definately be hereditary.

My mother got RA around age 50 or so. I am 39 and just dianosed myself. There is definately a genetic pre-dispostion. My mother also has another sister with RA and a half sister with Lupus. The connection must be my grandfather.

I don't think you should feel guilty about it. If we all said "what if" to every possibility - we wouldn't be here today. Hopefully, it will turn out to be something else.

Good luck to you and your daughter.

I agree with Katie. There have been no studies to confirm it, but most of us here have some type of autoimmune disease in the family. RA has been hereditary on the maternal side of my family for generations. 1 of my daughters will MOST LIKELY (I'm not saying positively) will develop it. That has just been the pattern in my family. DO NOT FEEL GUILTY! This is something that is out of your control. It is not by any means your fault!

Keep us posted and we are here for you! There are a lot of kind and informed people here that will support you.

Researchers have some theories, but haven't proven the
genetic link for JRA. However, there are a ton of people on
here with relatives who have RA and other autoimmune
diseases. I have JRA, and my sister has spondyloarthropathy.
Crohn's and lupus run in my mom's side of the family. If your
daughter does have JRA, it's good that you have caught it
early. Mine started in my ankle and I went two years before it
finally spread to my other joints. Then I had to wait 2 months to
get into a doctor that knew how to treat it. My sister was treated
much earlier b/c my parents knew what to look for. She has no
joint damage since they caught it early and treated it
aggressively. I agree with Katie, having JRA has made me a
much stronger person. I hope things go well with the doc.

I agree with all the above. My sister, who has ra, and I were part of a study, NARAC, that has been researching the genetic component of ra and other auto-immune conditions. Most of their studies have shown that the clustering of certain conditions such as ra do imply a strong genetic component. It is important to remeber that genetics may precondition someone to ra, but it does not mean that it will always be passed on. Best wishes.