SJOGREN'S AND INHERITANCE

AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES RUN IN FAMILIES.

Doctors know there is a genetic component to autoimmune diseases and that certain ones are more common in specific ethnic groups. For instance, lupus (painful and damaging body-wide inflammation) is more likely to affect African-American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American women, while Caucasians are more likely to develop type 1 diabetes in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.

Recently, doctors have learned that a single gene may cause different diseases in different people—you might have Crohn’s disease which affects the digestive system, while the same gene gives your mother alopecia in which the immune system targets hair follicles.

“Some genes carry a risk for multiple diseases, and some increased risk for just one,” says Timothy B. Niewold, M.D., director of the Judith and Stewart Colton Center for Autoimmunity at NYU Langone.

Environment also plays a role, via exposure to chemicals and pollutants in the things we eat and use. “For instance, we know smoking increases the chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis twofold,” says Dr. Niewold, “and people may have different levels of susceptibility.”

INFORMATION FROM ROB VDM AT BRAIN LABS

Dr Brandon Colby, the author of Outsmart Your Genes and a clinical geneticist says “You can think of your genes like a road map of possible routes. While your genes may mean your road map has paths that go toward heart disease or Alzheimer’s, those paths aren’t set in stone—they’re just possibilities laid out by your genes.” One of his suggestions to outsmart your genes is certain types of exercise and ditching processed food. He backs his suggestions up with science. 

SJOGREN'S AND INHERITANCE

Having Sjogren's disease does not mean that you will pass it on to your children. 

According to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD) genetic predisposition to Sjogren syndrome has been suggested, but the condition itself does not appear to be inherited. This means that a person might inherit an increased risk to develop the condition.

 

Familial clustering of different autoimmune diseases, as well as co-association of multiple autoimmune diseases in individuals, have frequently been reported. Some studies have shown that up to 30% of people with Sjogren syndrome have relatives with autoimmune diseases. 

While the relatives of people with Sjogren syndrome are at an increased risk of developing autoimmune diseases in general, they are not necessarily more likely to develop Sjogren syndrome.