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    • #20296
      PDL
      Participant

        I’m curious if MG is hereditary. I ask because I have had three bouts with ocular MG and my older brother has just contracted ocular MG.

      • #20298
        Kent Moore
        Participant

          I was told by my neurologist that it is not hereditary.  I guess it’s just the card we have been dealt.

          • #20321
            Barbara Lotter
            Participant

              My family has 3 generations of mg.  My father was diagnosed at 83 after years of misinformation, myself realized we had the same thing after my eyes quit working and I became weak, my neice when she recognized that she couldn’t see very well.  She and I  are seronegative which makes it hard to diagnosvhok2&9u

              e. Don’t know about my dad, he died shortly after being diagnosed. 7

            • #20386
              Matt Sereby
              Participant

                I was very frustrated when I started my MG journey and couldn’t figure out how this could happen to me. In talking with my sister who was in private practice I found somewhat of an answer. According to her, and I probably won’t state this correctly, we have a gene or a marker that has been passed down on my mother’s side. Basically something that allows for a roulette wheel of sickness. I know two of the items on it were lupus and psoriasis as well as MG. There were several more but I have no recollection.

            • #20302
              Jonathan A
              Participant

                It would say YES !!!   But the question is still out there in LIMBO  … with some say yes  .. others say no, according to what I have read and been told by doctors.   No one knows shit about MG.  It was never taught in  med school apparently.  It took me 8 months to be diagnosed.  No doctor could diagnose me with MG despite having every symptom, when finally diagnosed.  I was diagnosed by a third floor nurse  … who recognized it right away,  as she had encountered patients in her long career in hospitals who had it  … and recognized ALL MY SYMPTOMS  .. as ONE DISEASE MG.

                Some places say not HEREDITARY.         Some say neuro-immune diseases run in families  … so if one person has a NEURO DISEASE  .. then another family member has a greater  percentage of having a different NEURO DISEASE.

                In my case I say YES !!!   My grandmother died at a very young age of DISSEMINATED LUPUS ERTHEMATOSUS   … six months before her only kid, my father got married.

                I have been finally diagnosed with ACUTE OCULAR and GENERALIZED MG … since 3-24-2020, after an 8 month search  … and am close to being ME AGAIN  .. and in REMISSION.

                My mother died  … and my father (whose mom died of LUPUS) …  was showing several signs of old age, getting very weak limbs,  and an unknown disease.  So I moved into the family residence and became his caretaker till he died on 7-10-2016.  Then I got undiagnosed MG starting on 7-25-2019.   I have been googling MG like crazy and belong to 4 MG ZOOM support groups   .. now that I have a name for my disease  … and what it is.     Looking back I realize NOW that DAD had UNDIAGNOSED MG TOO.   At the end, he complained of chewing and swallowing problems  … as if he also had a LEDGE IN HIS THROAT  .. as if something was keeping his food from going down.  The doctors at a different BANNER Hospital than mine later  … guessing dad could be having unknown “ISSUES” .. so they cut open his abs for a PEG FEEDING TUBE and sent him home, and he died three weeks later, totally depressed at not being able to eat the NASTY VEGGIES …

                • #20380
                  Fred Besthorn
                  Participant

                    Jonathan. Thanks for your story and assessment. I think my mother may have had undiagnosed MG. I was also interested in finding out more about the zoom support groups you spoke of if you would’ve mind sharing info. Thanks Fred

                • #20304
                  Robert B.
                  Participant

                    I’m sorry to hear about your brother. It was my understanding that it wasn’t hereditary, but they are learning so much more about MG than when I was diagnosed nearly 9 years ago (with generalized MG), that may have changed.

                    That said, I was in an infusion center with a guy who had bulbar MG and a year or so after he was diagnosed his twin brother came down with it.

                  • #20306
                    Kent Estes
                    Participant

                      It would be interesting if there were a study of MG patients to try and determine if there are any common DNA markers amongst us.  Has anyone heard of such a study?

                    • #20308
                      Jay Glover
                      Participant

                        I was diagnosed 5 years ago at 60 my grandmother was diagnosed in 1994 at 84. So is it? Also my brother was diagnosed with Amlyoidosis 3 years ago at 67. So for 3 of us diagnosed with Autoimmune diseases there must be something in our genes.

                      • #20313
                        Michael Roddy
                        Participant

                          I find this subject to be very interesting. I recently read an MG publication that there was a chance that MG could possibly be hereditary. This was a big change in their thinking. Prior to this article over the years MG folks denied this possibility.
                          OK here is my story. My maternal grandmother was diagnosed with MG when she could not keep her eyes open. According to my mother my grandmother had to have her eye lids sewed open because she could not keep her eye lids up.
                          My mother in the early 80’s was diagnosed with MG when she could not hold her head up.
                          In 2005, I was diagnosed with MG when I started having lots of blurred vision especially when my MD asked me to look up. Not only did my vision blur my but eyes started blink rapidly for as long as I looked up. I found this to be very annoying. Within 2 years I started to have trouble swallowing and speaking. At this time, I was told I needed a Thymectomy if I wanted to have a chance of controlling my symptoms and getting off some of the medications like Prednisone.
                          A few years later my oldest sister was found to be antibody positive when she had some difficulty breathing. This was her only symptom of MG.
                          A few years ago, my nephew was diagnosed with MG. He was seropositive. He had extreme weakness, and double vision with trouble walking.
                          When tell my medical team my family history of MG some would say it was hereditary while others would say clusters of disease within a family does not mean it is hereditary.
                          After nephew was found to be antibody positive with related symptoms, I am leaning toward saying yes, it is hereditary.
                          My sister had an interesting story which makes me shake my head in disbelief. MY sister was serum positive without any symptoms a year or two before she had her episode of shortness of breath. Her neurologist told me he was not going to treat a blood test result without symptoms.
                          MG is a challenging disease to treat as there are no rules to follow and everyone is a snowflake.
                          Maybe the answer is genetic testing for all family members.

                        • #20317
                          Derek
                          Participant

                            <p style=”text-align: left;”>I’ve no idea, but my mother also had MG, and my brother has a different autoimmune disorder, Polymyalgia rheumatica. He lost all his hair, permanently, due to Alopecia when he was just 18 years old; that’s also an autoimmune problem. So I believe the autoimmune element is hereditary, but not necessarily the MG.</p>

                          • #20339
                            June Robertson
                            Participant

                              I suspect it might be. Certainly the autoimmune aspect could well be. I was diagnosed at 17(I am now 78 and well with regard to MG) but I think my paternal grandmother was an undiagnosed myasthenic as she was bedridden and weak for the last few years of her life and her eyelids were always at half mast. She died before Iwas diagnosed so we couldn’t compare notes. I have recently developed polymyalgia rheumatica and my mother had that, so the autoimmune streak is there. As a herbalist I had myasthenic patients and they often had other autoimmune illnesses in their families. Is there an environmental element? Toxic chemicals? The common diet eaten by family members to causing symptom triggering? There are many unanswered questions.

                            • #20319
                              Lynda Klein
                              Participant

                                It’s not supposed to be.  But, my Dad was diagnosed years ago and I was just diagnosed in 2020.  I don’t think it’s been studied enough to make the correlation.  But, if autoimmune diseases are in the family it’s more likely that something like this happens.  MG can be triggered by a virus.

                              • #20374
                                Mark Harrington
                                Participant

                                  At age 70, my Dad was diagnosed with MG. I was diagnosed at age 60. I was told MG “wasn’t hereditary , but ran in families.” I think I know what that means. As of now there isn’t an identified hereditary. Despite no medical training I feel someday there will be a conclusive connection with hereditary.

                                • #20378
                                  Jenny
                                  Participant

                                    There is a study from Thailand that states it is hereditary. At one point, there were 23 members of my family with MG. My family all believes it is hereditary. How else would there be so many?

                                  • #20383
                                    Douglas Manning
                                    Participant

                                      I think the Muscular Dystrophy Association gives the best explanation of the conundrum that MG is not hereditary but has a genetic component:
                                      What is the genetic susceptibility in MG?
                                      Although MG and other autoimmune diseases are not hereditary, genetic susceptibility does appear to play a role. It seems likely that genetic factors also contribute to the pathogenesis of MG. Certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types, cell-surface proteins that are responsible for the regulation of the immune system, have been associated with myasthenia, including HLA-B8, DRw3, and DQw2. MuSK antibody-positive myasthenia is associated with haplotypes (clusters of genes inherited together) DR14 and DQ5.

                                      Most studies suggest that if people have a relative with an autoimmune disease, their risk of getting an autoimmune disease is increased — the closer the relative, the higher the risk.

                                      Even for identical twins, however, that risk is relatively small. Most studies suggest that when one twin has an autoimmune disease, the other has less than a 50% chance of getting the same disease.

                                      Also, people who already have one autoimmune disease have a greater risk of developing another one. It is estimated that 5% to 10% of people with MG have another autoimmune disease that appeared before or after the onset of MG. The most common of these are autoimmune thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus (a disease that affects multiple organs).
                                      References

                                      1. Carlsson, B., Wallin, J., Pirskanen, R., Matell, G. & Smith, C. I. E. Different HLA DR-DQ associations in subgroups of idiopathic myasthenia gravis. Immunogenetics (1990). doi:10.1007/BF02115001
                                      2. Niks, E. H. et al. Strong association of MuSK antibody-positive myasthenia gravis and HLA-DR14-DQ5. Neurology (2006). doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000218159.79769.5c

                                      Borrowed from the website: https://www.mda.org/disease/myasthenia-gravis/causes-inheritance

                                      Hope this is helpful.

                                      I believe I am in the category that I have another autoimmune disease (celiac), and MG piled on in 2014 at 57.

                                    • #20406
                                      Celeste M Matthews
                                      Participant

                                        My neurologist gave me the opportunity to be involved in a genetics study. (It was not at her hospital.) The lab said that I had two different genes that are known to cause MG. The thing is, they are recessive. I only had one copy of each. So I should not have it.

                                        My grandfather was diagnosed by an old country doctor with MS back in the 40’s. There were no good diagnostics. His signs were exactly the same as mine.

                                        There is a genetic component according to the DNA guys. But I don’t think that they know as much about it as they think they do, because I should not have it. I have 2 different recessive genes. They feel certain that the genes are recessive. They are not on the same allele. So the two don’t match up.

                                        Somebody said before, There is probably a genetic component.

                                        If I can find that paper, I will tell everybody what the company is and what those genes are.

                                      • #20432
                                        Robert Standifer
                                        Participant

                                          Hello. I was part of a study group in Houston Texas about 12 years ago, at Methodist Hospital. It lasted about two years and they found that MG can be hereditary. I’m not sure about your MG. I have generalized MG. I’ve had it since 1993. It goes up and down. Right now I’m on the Ultomiris treatment and it is working pretty good. Good luck. I hope that I helped you with your question.

                                        • #20447
                                          Jane
                                          Participant

                                            My niece was diagnosed with mg 2008. I was diagnosed in 2014.       She gets infusions every two weeks. I do no infusions.   I as well as my niece were both told not hereditary. Both is us have autoimmune deficiency’s.

                                            Jane

                                          • #21189
                                            Delia Hernandez
                                            Participant

                                              genetic component that contributes to the condition. In most cases, MG is not inherited from parents or passed down through families.

                                              MG is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the acetylcholine receptor (AchR) at the neuromuscular junction, which results in weakened muscles and fatigue. There are some rare cases where a genetic mutation can cause congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS), which shares some similarities with MG. However, CMS is caused by a genetic mutation rather than being hereditary.

                                              In summary, while MG is not generally considered a hereditary disease, rare genetic mutations could cause conditions that share similar symptoms with MG, such as congenital myasthenic syndromes.

                                            • #21191
                                              Frank
                                              Participant

                                                Hi!
                                                This is an interesting discussion and it sure does look like it is hereditary! My mother died of MG at 75 after being diagnosed at about 72. Her neuro didn’t know much about MG I can see in looking back at it. He just treated her prednisone even though Mestanon and other therapies were available at that time. She spent 12 weeks on a respirator and died a few months after she was taken off it. She did a “Do Not Resuscitate” so she wouldn’t have to do that again.

                                                I was diagnosed just over a year and a half ago when I was 72. I have a great neurologist and a doing fairly well at this time. I haven’t had any crisis. No one else in my family that I know of has had MG or any other auto immune diseases (well, other than my wife who has lupus, but since we aren’t brother sister or otherwise related, that doesn’t count!! ;->

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