Lupus and Genetics

Lupus being genetic is a real thing. My mother also has lupus but my sisters have not been diagnosed with it.

My sisters and lupus

My middle sister has been experiencing symptoms of it – the rash underneath her breast, fatigue, and a little of Raynaud’s symptoms. She has been tested in the past but I recommended that she get tested every year just in case. I told her that it might not show up immediately and to be careful. Of course, I was not jinxing her. I just did a little bit of research. You can be what some people call a carrier of the autoimmune disease and it never flares up.

My sister found out she has the carrier trait when she got tested and now it's starting to affect her in the same ways that it affects me as a lupus patient. She has moments where her joints and body hurts or she will get some rashes underneath her breasts and her chest area. Certain creams that I was prescribed actually worked for her also.

My older sister is not showing any signs right now and she is doing really fine but she carries the genetics also of having lupus or genetically passing it down. Lupus can be hereditary in both men and women although I have not experienced a man having an autoimmune disease within my family, I have surely met some individuals who are males with this condition.

What does lupus research tell us?

According to the Lupus Foundation of America, lupus is also referred to as a woman's disease or a family disease. Also according to the Lupus Foundation of America, women are more likely than men to get this disease and a high percentage of family members who have this disease are doing really well. Other people have had pretty drastic measures they had to take while in the hospital. According to the Lupus Foundation of America, the percentage is higher in Africa Americans than any other race. If the gene of lupus is not found within someone they can continue to get tested just to make sure the gene does not become active but they do carry the gene for it to be passed on even though the lupus disease is popping up in people that never ever had the disease within their family.

With understanding lupus genetics before my mother had kids, she did not think that lupus could be passed down to her children at the time. How people made me feel on social media, I started to think it was my mother’s fault for giving me lupus just like people tell me it's my fault if my daughter has it, but it is not. It's not bad to want a kid while having a condition. People do it all the time with other diseases. It is also not impossible to have kids, maybe it depends on how far your lupus has taken a toll on your body. I never gave up having kids and neither should you.