UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Will my kids get it?

Would someone like to post an FAQ-style answer to this FAQ posed by Prue?

Ken has a very good explanation of this........worth asking him?

Since this is very "genetics", I was hoping that someone who was at Mr Tuft's talk on Saturday would post something.

There is no definite yes or no answer to this question as research is still ongoing.

For many years it was thought that genetics had little to do with KC as it would often pop in a family and no other family member could be traced who had it.

However, genes relating to KC have now been found but it is not inherited in a straightforward and understandable way like eye colour for example. It may well be that genetic AND evironmental factors both have to be present for it to manifest itself.

For the moment it can be said that your kids may get this but it is by no means certain. The current research will throw more light on this as it progresses.

Mild KC is now more easily and therefore more often detected and so it might be a family member may have the condition sub-clinically ie it never actually interferes with vision or progresses.

Lynn

...and dont forget we are evolving...and one of the affects of this is we are all getting fatter!!....which would have an impact on body parts including eyes.........

which may suggest why are are seeing more cases of mild KC...

J

From Mr Tufts, presentation the simple answer is maybe.

The study so far shows that KC is not down to one gene, but a coming together of several. Therefore it is posible for children to get KC, but as the gene pool is diluted through the subsequent generation the chances of grand children getting KC is much reduced.

That was my understanding and hopefully if John replays the the video he made, he could tell me how well I rememberd it.

Pru

The real problem with your question is that the epidemiology* is still inconclusive.

Words like "no" would be inappropriate. Nobody really knows what causes KC, so nobody can ever tell whether or not one person will develop it.

Words like "improbable" or "unlikely" may be statistically supportable, but they seem like weasle words. There is every possibility that your children will live long and happy lives without ever developing Keratoconus.

Still, although I know that this is the case I was relieved when my own son and daughter emerged through their teens without any problems with their eyes.

All we can really say is that if your children do develop KC they will be blessed to have a mother who has gone the same way before, and who will go on loving and supporting them as they learn to live with whatever limitations the condition may bring.

Yours aye

Andrew

* -- edit -- It did occur to me late that the word 'epidemiology' might warrant a little explanation. This is the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence and distribution of disease. In short it involves statistical analysis of disease rates in different populations. The rate of incidence of a particular disease in the general population is sometimes expressed as the "chances of any individual getting it".

Now some published figures suggest that there is no greater risk of developing keratoconus if you are the child or sibling of somebody else who already has it.

Some published figures give a different impression. A problem with the interpretation of this epidemiological muddle is that where a condition runs in a family, it may be assumed that there are envirommental factors that are shared by the members of the family, so that a coincidence of disease may be due to shared environment rather than genes.

It may be some years before a clear pattern can be identified in the confusion over this.

There is also the comfort in the medical tachnology ever advancing.

If it had stayed still in the past 20 years, I would now be in the position post graft where I would be clinically blibnd in my right eye and in extreme discomfort with the type of lens I would have to wear in my left eye.

I feel that should my daughter develop KC in 10 years time, that would put her at a similar age I was when diagnosed. She will have a much easier life than me regarding treatment, career prospects and support.

I knew a lot of this, but thought for a FAQ it was something many of us have asked or worried about. I know I have.