MS in the famiy.

[MegAmber21]

I am a 20 year old female with several family members who have been diagnosed with MS. My moms brother and 2 cousins, and my fathers 2 sisters. I don't want to wait until it's too late to realize I have it, so I was wondering if I should be tested, if there's even a test for it.

[essdipity]

Hi there. There's no way to be 'screened' for MS, and there's no genetic test either. You're right that there's a lot of MS in your family, but believe it or not, your chances of getting it are not much more than those of the general population.

If a first degree relative (parent or sibling) has MS, the likelihood that you too will have it increases to about 1 in 20, still pretty low. Since the people you mention are not related to you in the first degree, though, you are much safer, statistically speaking.

(Just as an aside, though, it does seem that a fair number of members here also have family with MS, counting as far as cousins. Maybe we should devise a poll about this.)

ess

[Suzie9]

As you are aware of MS you will always be looking out for it so you would know that if anything weird happened to get checked out straight away where as many don't seek medical advice for quite a time as initial symptoms can often be quite mild.

As for a test, there is no one test  and if you are fine now then nothing would probably show up in the tests you do have in MS anyway.(Diagnosis is determined by a patients history and numerous different tests and even then it can be difficult).

So basically there is no way of checking if you are going to develop MS in the future. I am sure even with members of your family having MS the odds are still against you getting it. Try not to get paranoid and too worried about it as if you are like me you end up analyzing every sensation thinking it is MS, when really we all get weird things happening to our bodies all the time which most of us ignore.

Being aware can't hurt though. There is loads of good information on the net as to initial symptoms but they vary so much from person to person and there are also different types of MS.

Sorry to ramble.

Aimee.

[sllowe]

Hi there,

Welcome!

Well, your chances of getting it are only slightly higher w/immediate family members having it.  So, you have both Aunt's and Uncles who have it.  How are they doing? Are you afraid from what you are seeing?

You having anything going on w/your body and mind that is making you a little concerned? You can tell us. We're quite a friendly bunch.

Wobbly mentions the Health Pages and they are a great educational resourse.  Hope you enjoy them.

Ask anything you like, spill your thoughts if you like too.  We're here for you.

See you around,
Shelly

[Wobbly]

You should talk with your Dr about this...I don't think there is one test that can determine that?  But I'm no Dr... check out the Health Pages..

take care
wobbly
undx