Monday, December 2, 2013

Do Genes Play A Role In The Spread Of Dementia?

By Jack Morgan


Is dementia hereditary? Well this is the perspective most dementia sufferers have about their condition. Before understanding whether it is hereditary it is necessary to understand what it is about. It refers to the loss of cognitive ability resulting from global brain injury or a disease that causes memory loss.

In Latin, dementia literally means madness since the condition affects the parts of the brain that are concerned with attention, memory and language. The condition requires about six months before it can be diagnosed. The symptoms become incurable as the disease advances. There are several causes that have linked with causing dementia. They include brain tumors, strokes, mental deterioration and head injuries.

The dementia disease can only be thought to be inheritable if one of the family members is diagnosed with Huntington's disease. It is good for patient and family members to understand that this case is very rare.

There are about 400 families that have dementia caused by PSEN-1 gene mutation on chromosome 14. This is another rare dementia problem that is caused by hereditary or genetic problems. This condition can happen in about half of early onset dementia disease in the world. There are many people who suffer from this condition.

Some families may suffer from early onset dementia problem because they have mutation on their PSEN-2 gene on their chromosome 1. This is another cause of familial dementia problems. Some people may suffer from this disease because they have these mutated genes in their body. This is the most uncommon dementia problem in the world.

They are several types of early onset dementia problems. All of them are caused by mutated genes in certain families. These diseases can be called as hereditary situation. It means that you are able to get these diseases from your parents. All early onset dementia problems are caused by mutated genes.

Other rare dementias that are hereditary include fatal familial insomnia, familial Danish dementia and familial British dementia among others. Each of them has different symptoms but hallucinations, paralysis and poor reflexes are common.

Secondary dementia can also occur in people having problems with their movement. Primary dementia has a connection with movement problems which are not very clear. Additionally, poisoning and infections can cause dementia in people of all ages. Some infections that occur uniquely in children are also likely to cause the condition. Some of the diseases that are prevalent in children and cause dementia include Niemann-Pick and Batten disease which are hereditary.

Family are being called across the world to visit different Dementia centres. As shown above, the autosomal dominant that has to do with mutation could cause dementia disease. If you have any family member who has Huntington's disease or fronto-temporal dementia is good to get involved in the research. There is no need to worry much about inheriting or passing the disease to your children and other family because it has different causes.




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