Is Crohns genetic??

[Pawleyj]

I've got a big family, my mum is 1 of 8 & my dad 1 of 3 with 4 generations!

I got diagnosed 3 weeks ago but have suffered with pain, tiredness, blood in stools/ diarrhoea etc for the last 4 years.

Not one other person in my family has got Crohns or any symptoms what so ever. I gave up smoking in oct 12 and was told that could have been the cause but my sister and cousins smoke why me??

 

[Ihurt]

Smoking does NOT cause crohn's. If that were the case then there would be tons of people walking around with crohns right??

As far as it being genetic, well I think it plays part of the role, but not fully since there are people who get crohns and have NO family history of if. I kind of honestly believe that medications, toxins, enviornmental issues can be part of the problem as well. I think something has to activate it or attack your immune system and that allows it to come out. It also can be a bacterial infection which is causing it. There are so many variables to what causes crohns and any other chronic health issue. But smoking in itself did NOT cause your crohns.

I've got a big family, my mum is 1 of 8 & my dad 1 of 3 with 4 generations!

I got diagnosed 3 weeks ago but have suffered with pain, tiredness, blood in stools/ diarrhoea etc for the last 4 years.

Not one other person in my family has got Crohns or any symptoms what so ever. I gave up smoking in oct 12 and was told that could have been the cause but my sister and cousins smoke why me??

 

[Farmwife]

My 4 year old Grace is the only one in my family that has it.
I noticed a change in her after the flu and then later she had c. diff.
She's amazing though. She hurts but keeps smiling.

 

[kiny]

I'll just agree with what people above said.

When people say genetic they tend to mean hereditary disease. It's only genetic predisposition , you are not born with this disease nor do you need parents who have crohn's disease or family who has crohn's diease or even any particular gene mutations.

Some genes are associated with crohn's disease, if you have gene a,b,c mutation (nod2, ATG16L1, VDR etc) you have a small higher percentage of getting crohn's disease. Many people with these mutations however do not develop crohn's disease.

What causes someone from not having crohn's disease to having crohn's disease is the million dollar question.

 

[Jmrogers4]

Well my husband was the first in his family but our son now also has crohn's so personal opinion here. If you have family members with Crohn's I think there is a greater chance of you having the gene, predisposition or whatever for you to develop Crohn's but I don't think it is an absolute.

 

[Angie10]

I am the oldest of 3. My youngest brother who is 26 and I both have crohns. My middle brother was lucky enough not to get it. They really have no ides why it effects some siblings and not others. Maybe just the way cells were formed? My GI did tell me that this is a auto-immune disease. Found out that my grandma has rhumatoid(sp?) arthritis which is an auto-immune disease and that could be where we got these genes from. Its the same family of diseases! Thanks grandma, right? And what is even more crazy, I had a planned small bowel resection on Jan 7th. The very next week my brother was having a bad flare and he too had to have the same exact surgery! Same removal and same connection points! I guess we all have our issues in life. Some have heart disease, kidney issues, cancer and the list goes on and on. But we were delt the cards of crohn's. That will be our struggle like it or not. And the sooner we can educate ourselves on how this disease works, we can hopefully find middle ground and live our lives to the fullest!

 

[kiny]

Well my husband was the first in his family but our son now also has crohn's so personal opinion here. If you have family members with Crohn's I think there is a greater chance of you having the gene, predisposition or whatever for you to develop Crohn's but I don't think it is an absolute.

Seems like it, although I do wanted to say one small thing about this because someone pointed that out to me once.

There's many documented cases of couples living under the same roof developing crohn's disease. There's a study that showed that one man married someone, he got crohn's disease, later did his wife, he divorced, his second wife got crohn's disease and later his children did. These are just random cases though, and it might mean absolutely nothing, but people forget that the reason might not be only genes in those cases. (it is rare though, but it did happen more than they expected statistically)

 

[kiny]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1375715/

"Ten pairs of husband-wife couples are reported with inflammatory bowel disease who were seen in the same geographical area in Nord Pas de Calais region of France and in Liège county (Belgium). Among these 10 couples, four were concordant for Crohn's disease, two for ulcerative colitis, and four were discordant. In nine of 10 couples neither spouse had symptoms before marriage but inflammatory bowel disease subsequently developed in both. In one couple, one spouse had Crohn's disease before marriage and the other partner experienced symptoms afterwards. Eighteen children were born to eight of 10 couples. Five of them developed Crohn's disease but four belong to the same family. In all cases the affected children were born to parents who both developed Crohn's disease after they had married and were conceived at a time when parents did not yet have symptoms. It is proposed that this pattern of emergence of inflammatory bowel disease suggests a role for an infectious agent yet to be identified."

quite a few studies about these sort of things, it is rare, but higher than you would expect

it's easy to say that it is genetics, and it probably is in many cases, but living under the same roof seems to matter in some cases

 

[Jmrogers4]

Kiny
That is an interesting read and I think there is someplace in Washington up near Canada that has some similar statistics and something about some kind of waste contaminating the water - can't remember. Wish I could pinpoint something similar for hubby and son but as diagnosis was nearly 20 years apart and living in different environments I personally chalk it up to some genetic anamoly that has made them susceptible. Personally I think there are so many causes and different types of Crohn's that they are going to have a hard time saying "Ureka! I found the cause"

 

[helena101]

Very interesting. My husband has UC, diagnosed 16 years ago. I met him 8 years ago, and developed CD 6 years after that. And I have no family history of CD.

Another strange coincidence: my family has a summer house on a Greek island. One neighbor living next door has CD, and another one living across the street. CD is not at all common in Greece, and I bet cases of CD on a small Greek island are EXTREMELY rare. Isn't it strange that THREE neighbours should have it???

 

[Pawleyj]

Thanks everyone for your responses.

I'm just trying to understand more about it, up until 4/5 months ago I hadn't really heard of CD now I've got to live with it! Since then though I have found when you mention it to someone they know someone who has. I'm still yet to meet someone with it though! This forum deffinatly helps though.

Thanks again.

 

[Ihurt]

Yes I agree with you Kiny. I have IC( interstitial cystitis) of the bladder. All the doctors say that it is all autoimmune, but I question that theory. I worked with this nurse practicioner for my IC and she told me a story that I found interesting. She said she was working with a lady who had severe IC. Well this lady ended up getting a divorice from her husband. Well the husband remarried and now his second wife came down with IC!!!!

Well the nurse I was working with said she is certain that a certain bacteria may be te culprit to causing IC. I agree. I have had to be on low dose antibiotics for a long time just to keep my IC bladder at bay, otherwise I am in severe pain.

Well I think it may be the same with crohns. I mean people in the same family share the same germs basically, so yeah, it is very possible that it is just cross contamination that causes it to run in families. It is just so complicated.

Seems like it, although I do wanted to say one small thing about this because someone pointed that out to me once.

There's many documented cases of couples living under the same roof developing crohn's disease. There's a study that showed that one man married someone, he got crohn's disease, later did his wife, he divorced, his second wife got crohn's disease and later his children did. These are just random cases though, and it might mean absolutely nothing, but people forget that the reason might not be only genes in those cases. (it is rare though, but it did happen more than they expected statistically)