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schaper8 · 11-03-2009, 11:21 AM

We have known for a while now that my mother's family has familial ALS. We know that ours is not caused by the SOD1 gene mutation, so the exact cause is unknown, as it is for the majority of ALS patients.

My grandfather very likely had FTD and he has a brother who died of ALS and six of that brother's children died from or have ALS. These appear to be the only 2 out of six children in my grandfather's family that had the gene. My grandfather had 8 children- 2 of those children have died from ALS (one of whom had FTD prior to showing ALS symptoms), it is also very likely that another also died from ALS. My mother is 73 and has had several serious health issues that would have probably triggered ALS by now. Two other brothers show no signs of ALS. The oldest sibling of the 8 offspring died a few years back from cancer- now his oldest son is showing symptoms of ALS and is being tested for this and other neurological diseases.

I kind of freaked out when I heard about his symptoms, as it has always been my understanding that ALS is a dominent gene disease and that a parent had to pass the gene to a child. Is anyone aware of strains of familial ALS where this is not the case- that it could occur randomly within the hereditary blood line- or is the more likely scenario that this uncle died of cancer before his ALS symptoms appeared? I have asked one of this uncle's children if he was showing symptoms of FTD prior to dying of cancer- if the answer is yes, then I would be able to connect the dots and quit worrying if I, or my sisters, could be at risk of developing ALS without my mother having it...

11-03-2009, 11:21 AM	#1 (permalink)
schaper8 New Member (Say Hi) Registered Member Join Date: 2009 City: Raleigh State: North Carolina Country: US Diagnosed: 00/0000 Posts: 2	Questions about Familial ALS We have known for a while now that my mother's family has familial ALS. We know that ours is not caused by the SOD1 gene mutation, so the exact cause is unknown, as it is for the majority of ALS patients. My grandfather very likely had FTD and he has a brother who died of ALS and six of that brother's children died from or have ALS. These appear to be the only 2 out of six children in my grandfather's family that had the gene. My grandfather had 8 children- 2 of those children have died from ALS (one of whom had FTD prior to showing ALS symptoms), it is also very likely that another also died from ALS. My mother is 73 and has had several serious health issues that would have probably triggered ALS by now. Two other brothers show no signs of ALS. The oldest sibling of the 8 offspring died a few years back from cancer- now his oldest son is showing symptoms of ALS and is being tested for this and other neurological diseases. I kind of freaked out when I heard about his symptoms, as it has always been my understanding that ALS is a dominent gene disease and that a parent had to pass the gene to a child. Is anyone aware of strains of familial ALS where this is not the case- that it could occur randomly within the hereditary blood line- or is the more likely scenario that this uncle died of cancer before his ALS symptoms appeared? I have asked one of this uncle's children if he was showing symptoms of FTD prior to dying of cancer- if the answer is yes, then I would be able to connect the dots and quit worrying if I, or my sisters, could be at risk of developing ALS without my mother having it...