Familial ALS

Hi,

I am hoping this question can be answered so I can finally put my mind at ease.  It seems like there are so many different answers out there.  If my Father has ALS, does that mean that I have a better chance of getting it?  He is the only person in our family that has it, and I was under the impression that for it to be considered the Familial type, there had to be two or more people in the same bloodline with the disease.  Lately I have been reading that if a parent has ALS then that means the children could have the gene and they have a 50% chance of getting it.  Please tell me which is true.  I just want to be able to relax.

Thank you!!

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

ALS is not the kind of disease which shows genetic anticipation. Genetic anticipation means subsequent generations get the disease earlier and in a more severe form. This is a property of genetic disease like Huntington’s chorea, which has trinucleotide repeats.

You do not have more chance of getting ALS as compared to you father. But you definitely have more chance of getting ALS the general population.

Only about 5 - 10 % cases are familial.

Regards