Chances of passing Crohns?

[Windicious]

Hello! I registered here just to post this...I am 18 and do not have Crohns, and thus far have not shown any signs of having it yet. My mother and her cousin have it, but my father does not. My significant other's AUNT has it, but neither him or his father or mother have it.

Would it be selfish of me to want kids one day if there is an inkling of a chance to pass it? How much of a chance is there if I don't have it, but my mother, her cousin, and SO's aunt has it? I don't want to be considered selfish if I choose to have a child...and I would like to know what the rough odds are...this stresses me out a lot because while I don't want them NOW, I want them in the future...

 

[DJW]

Hi and welcome.

You're chances of not getting it are greater than your odds of getting it. Without looking through my library, I believe it's about 10%. I'll check and repost if I find I'm wrong.

 

[shamrock15]

Genes are a wonderful thing. In many cases they can pre-dispose us to a condition without guaranteeing it will ever develop. In other cases, mutations can cause them. At the moment, I don't believe there is concrete evidence that even if you have it that your offspring will. Hope not for my daughter's sake. I don't in any way believe it is selfish to want kids.

 

[Kev]

I read an article (the link may still be here on the Forum someplace, but don't ask me where) posted by a columnist/writer in a US west coast paper (I think, going from my wonky memory) in which she stated the odds of someone with a family history of IBD was 10 times more likely to develop it. But her article didn't credit any studies, etc., to substantiate those numbers. I didn't know where she came up with them, so I wrote and asked her. She never replied. I just read (on another site) that the odds of getting IBD in North America was now 1:150 (again, this particular Crohns and Colitis site didn't offer any studies, papers, etc., to back up these figures). IF (and it is a pretty big IF) both are accurate, then the odds of someone with family history would be 1:15.. I don't know...

A friend who had medical training told me that, genetically speaking, the odds of us with regard to family genetics (as opposed to what other kind I don't know) are 1:16. Here's the thing... having a gene or two (or more) that makes you more/less susceptible to IBD is one thing... then you have to be 'exposed' to whatever is the root cause of the disease, AND then you need a combination of whatever factors have to come together to trigger it. And, if all that happens, then the particular person who satisfies all those criteria MIGHT have a mild, moderate or severe case of it... barring they don't get hit by a bus or struck by lightning before hand. If one focuses on all the things that MIGHT go wrong in life, we would have to be crazy to get out of bed. Just take life one day at a time, and enjoy it...

 

[Jmrogers4]

DJW is right odds are greater at not getting it but speaking from the 10%. My husband has Crohn's and our oldest child (he is now 15) has Crohn's our youngest does not. Do I wish he didn't have it, of course but we looked at it at least we have experience with this disease and for the most part have been able to keep his under much better control than my husbands in the beginning as we did not have that steep learning curve to figure things out. There are so many things/diseases out there that a child could have and you may not even know that the gene/mutation is present until it presents itself.
Of course it's easy to look at my wonderful child and say even knowing he would be diagnosed with Crohn's I wouldn't have changed a thing. Generally speaking a lot of people develop Crohn's as an adult or later in their teen years and not as a child. My husband was 25, my child 10 as Kev said he just had that magic combination of triggers at a much younger age.

 

[Axelfl3333]

I wouldn't,t worry about it at 18,there will be an answer there,s a shedload of money being flung at it,some will stick.if you have any doubt about medical science,it's off topic a team of doctors in the uk and Poland have repaired a spinal column,the man walks and is regaining control of all his faculties this was thought impossible so I,m confident science will find an answer.