Q's & A's Database
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Category: DH & CD
Genetics
- Is DH/Coeliac Disease hereditary?
- What is known about the genetic factors involved in DH and CD?
- Is DH/Coeliac Disease hereditary?
The risk of patients with DH having children with the disease is
relatively low. In a study of over 1,000 patients with DH in Finland,
only 10% of the patients had a family history of the disease and
only 14% of these had a child with the disease. However, there are
now tests for screening for coeliac disease, which is the prerequisite for DH and thus, relatives can be screened if so
desired.
It is well known that coeliac disease tends to "run" in families, and
it seems to be strongly heritable. Coeliac disease occurs more frequently in relatives of patients with coeliac disease than in the
general population. The risk to first degree relatives (parents,
siblings and children) is greater than in second degree relatives
(grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins). Siblings
have the greatest incidence.
(Source - Medical Articles)
- What is known about the genetic factors involved in DH and
CD?
There is evidence that both DH and CD have a genetic basis. It
appears that the genes for the two diseases are fundamentally the
same because pairs of identical twins have been described in which
one twin has DH and the other only CD. In addition, in large families
the relatives of a patient with DH have equal numbers of those affected with DH as with CD. At present, the genes for DH and CD
have not been found but there are certain genetic markers for the
disease that are known, which appear to increase the susceptibility
to the diseases.
An article reports that genes are the stongest contributor to coeliac
disease after a study involving identical and non-identical
twins.
In the study, 75% of identical twins both had CD whereas only 11%
of non-identical twins were both affected.
The investigators found that environmental factors have little or no
role in the development of CD. They suggest that several genes work collectively to cause the disorder and a single missing or
altered gene is probably not to blame.
(Source - Medical Article)
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