family members with KC

[Lesley Foster]

Hi,me again.
I was wondering if any of you have other members in your families with KC? I have two younger brothers and the youngest, 5years younger, also has KC in fact he was diagnosed before me so has had it about 25 years. He has been fortunate in that he has only just been advised to wear contact lenses.
I understand that there is no real idea of what causes it but one thing I have in common with my brother is we both had measles badly when we were children and I have often wondered if that could have been a trigger. Also when I was about 14 my optician told my parents that I would be a good candidate for contact lenses at a future date which makes me wonder whether I was showing signs of the condition way back then, the early 70's, was KC known about then does anyone know?
We have considered the genetic testing but it isn't easy getting everyone together in one place as we are scattered about the country. Has anyone been through that and if so what happened?

[Pauline Houke]

Hey Lesley,
I suffered from a bout of chicken pox when I was a child and followed it up straight after with a bout of measles. As a result of that I developed a "lazy eye" and had to wear glasses from five years old. As I got older my eye became stronger but I still had to wear glasses for astigmatism. Then about 8 years ago I was diagnosed with KC. No other family member has had it though. I suffer from asthma excma and hayfever. The excma is around my eyes. Years ago a young doctor gave me some cream to put on the excma and she told me to use it sparingly which I did. After a year of using it I went back to the doctor for more advice because the excma was now getting worse and the cream although I had most of it left had expired. To my horror she said that the cream was a very strong hydrocortizone and should never have been used anywhere near my eyes! I have wondered since if that cream was not responsible for the onset of the KC!

[shoayb]

Hi,
well as for KC and family... i would most certainly like to find more resaerch on it!
Me specifically... whatever i could research no-one in our family has had KC... but i was the only one who didn;t need specs/contacts from a family of 7 untill 6 or so months ago when i got diagnosed! they all had short/long sight!
and as for KC being hereditery.. from what i have read(not much)... could be related!?! don;t know of any specific studies..!
causes of KC... well anythings your bet..i don't think it has been pinned down to anything specific!
i'm sure others with more experience will have more info!
Regards

[jayuk]

Hi

For what its worth I DIDNT have measles but chicken pox and there were light.

But what I did do was itch the cr*p out of my eyes when growing up... used to itch my eyes so bad they turned red roar...and must have done that for about 6 odd years...I personally beleive that MAY have been a trigger for my KC.

I have no other person in my family to have KC even went as far bac as my dads,dad's family and same for mother.

[GarethB]

It has been suggested my KC could be due to eczema as I used to have it real bad even on my face. Back in the 70's steroid creams were quite strong and I used to have to be coverd in the stuff from head to toe. My mum always made sure the cream was a good inch or so away from my eyes, nose and mouth and made sure it was rubbed in well. I had to have cotton gloves to stop me scratching it as it was so bad.

The suggestion was that it may still have been possible to have got some of the cream on the gloves as I scratched in my sleep and possibly then rubbed it in my eyes.

I do have a relative going back two generations that was blind in that he could only see shapes. A bit like advanced KC, but there has been no other cases except short sight in the family on my fathers side. On my mothers side, glasses are not needed until they are in their sixties and then just for close work!

I think genetics is the key and that it is when two recessive jeans come together which is why it is so rare. Then I think this only makes you prone to the condition and that it does not start unless there is a trigger which is yet unknown. Both sides of my familly have a history of asthma and exczema but research still needs to be done to see if thisi just a coincidence.

Gareth

[Lesley Foster]

Looking at these replies allergies appear to figure a lot. I have always suffered from itchy eyes and was always being told off for rubbing me eyes, I still do and still am. I started wearing glasses for short sight and astigmatism when I was 7, it should have been sooner but no one realised I couldn't see. Everyone in my family is shortsighted, grandparents, parents, brothers, and their children. We have wondered about my grandmother because she suffered from double vision but it was put down to her age, she lived till she was 92. My children have both worn glasses since aged about 6 or 7, their optician is aware of my condition and therefore checks them regularly.
I guess one could say there is an hereditary pattern even if KC wasn't thought of.

[Lesley Foster]

I like the poster a lot but have to agree that the red on red is difficult to focus on, I am finding that type of printing extremely difficult to read. Apart from that it's really good. Well done.

[Lesley Foster]

oops, taht last one was supposed to be somewhere else. Problems with this damn computer!!!

[Jacqueline Cheetham]

Pauline. I was intrested to hear about your chicken pox, measles as a child. I had measles and german measles at around the same time, and according to my parents was very ill. I can remember our old Doctor calling around to check my eyes. Not sure if this was the cause of my KC. But I was intrested to see your post, as I not heard any thing similar from ayone else.

[Paul Morgan]

I've heard the link with Chickenpox mooted on here before.

For what it's worth, my KC problems all kicked in after I'd had dreadful Chickenpox at the age of 21 or 22.

Until then I had pretty good vision. Did it cause it, who knows??

I was also a serial eye rubber. Still am when the wife's not looking. I find it hugely relaxing and very pleasant. Since I have seen comments on here about it I have tried not to though.

That said my dad does it too...he's in his 70's and has no such problems.