My mom suffers from severe RA. Am I at risk?

Hi Suzanne,

I'm no expert, but my mum doesn't have RA and I got it two years ago at age 34.   and not in any of my family members.!!

Ange

hi suzanne,

i don't have an MD after my name either, but my mom doesn't have it either.  on my dad's side, (i found out, after i was recently diagnosed) his aunt had RA, her daughter had Lupus.  I have a cousin with Lupus (and RA) (one sister's daughter) and i have 2 other cousins (another sister's 2 daughters) one with RA and one with fibromyalgia.  3 of us are in our 40's and one is in her 50's.  so, in one generation, 4 people with an autoimmune disease, and 2 in the prior generation is quite surprising.  in my case, i can say it's hereditary.     ~desiree

RA is one of many autoimmune disorders and family genetics can mean an increased risk of one of many diseases. But just because your mom has RA doesn't mean you will too. In my family, my grandmother and several of her sisters had autoimmune disorders like RA, Sjogren's syndrome and scleroderma.  My mom had sjogren's and scleroderma too but her sister and brothers are all fine.  My sister has Type I diabetes and I have RA, but none of my cousins have symptoms of anything. 

They say that RA has no positive hereditary proof....

but my mom is a carrier and now has some arthritis (43years old)

my dad is also a carrier but has no symptoms he does have M.S. (42 years old)

I am 19 and I was diagnosed with JRA at age 2

my sister also has JRA she is 17 and she was diagnosed at 1

my brother has shown syptoms but does not have a positive titer so...

many people say there is no link,

I dont know if it's just my family but there are other auto immune diseases throught my immidiate family.... such as the M.S. and epilepsy  my sister has kidney problems too!

so do you have a risk I would think that looking back at the rest of your family tree (like does it only run in women..or only on your fathers side, is a good place to start)

then talk to you doctor and see if there is a fairly easy test that you can take to see if your mom and dad are carriers (like the RA titer) or if there is an easy way to test you to see if you show any signs

I hope this helps, and I hope that all is well,

Cassie

before depending on my experiances make sure you talk to a doctor because i am in no way certified under all this !!