Having knowledge about the truth of matters could help a person live a more positive life. Many people live in fear of hereditary diseases believed to migrate from generation to generation, which causes unnecessary attention to be focused on medical treatment and changes in lifestyle for fear of contracting a supposed family disease. The article below will inform many on the truth of hereditary diseases further dispelling these myths.

Hereditary diseases are always caused by defective chromosomes or genes that change body structure or chemistry in some way. However, determining if a disease or physical abnormality is inherited is not a simple matter. Many birth defects are caused by infections, teratogens (environmental agents e.g., infectious viruses, microorganisms, and chemicals), or other environmental factors, as well as by defective genes.

Sometimes a disease is said to "run in the family" which means that several members of a family have the same disease. Children of parents who suffer from certain diseases are at higher risk of developing these diseases as compared to the average risk in the general population. Allergies, obesity, or alcoholism may run in the family, but this does not mean that these diseases are inherited or are caused by defective genes.

Families share many environmental factors as well as genes. For example, families share the same water, food, and air, any one of which may contain harmful or toxic substances. When parents have a poor diet, children usually do also. To appreciate the difference between an inherited disease and one that "runs in the family" consider these examples. Being a Protestant or a Catholic runs in families as does being a Republican or a Democrat, but these traits clearly are not determined by any genes that have been inherited. Only a physician trained in medical genetics can determine if a disease or defect is a result of inherited genes, environmental factors, or a combination of both.

Some inherited diseases have a low percentage of effect on the children in the family. Although genes probably are involved to some degree, the number of genes conferring risk, or extent of the genetic contribution is basically unknown. In all cases, environmental factors also are involved.

Possible Inherited Diseases:

                     General Population    One Parent Affected

Alcoholism           10%                    40%
Alzheimer's          5% - 10%               10% - 20%
Colon cancer         6%                     12% - 18%
Diabetes, type       23% - 7%               10% - 15%
Depression, bipolar  1% - 3%                9% - 27%
Dyslexia             5% - 10%               30% - 60%
Psoriasis            1% - 2%                25%
Rheumatoid arthritis 1%                     5%
Schizophrenia        1%                     10%

According to the above table, chances of a child inheriting a disease from a parent, depending on the disease, are small if any. There are many more diseases people contract that are believed to be inherited, but they too would be along the same scale.

Testing for any disease is encouraged. If one fears they are susceptible to a disease that a family member has or died from, they should get heredity disease counseling from a local medical professional. Healthy eating and exercise also decreases chances of contracting any form of disease. Living a lifestyle contrary to the one lived by someone in the family who had a particular diseases is another form of prevention.

Escape the myth and fear of hereditary diseases by knowing that there are less chances of having the same disease than someone in the family than there are chances of getting that disease.

Source: Health and Wellness. Edlin, Golanty, Brown. 2002