Family history???

[Jewel311]

So I found out tonight a distant cousin has MS.  She lives in another country.  I think she may be a 3rd cousin.  I am freaked out.  What exactly is considered "runs in the family."  Anyone who has any trace of relation...or is it more specific.  I keep remembering statistics... 1 in 40 if it runs in family..... help..

[Slangevar]

When they say "runs in the family," they mean that either you have many relatives with MS or first-degree relatives with MS.  A distant cousin is so unrelated to you by blood that you could legally marry them.

Stop Googling MS statistics... that's just silly.

[toworryornottoworry]

When they speak of "runs in the family" they mean first degree relatives. With autoimmune diseases they are now finding the associated HLA genes that cause someone to be at a predisposed risk for it. Let's use HLADQ8 for Celiac as an example. It is present in 30 percent of the population, yet less than 1 percent develops the disease, so having the gene is still so insignificant. Now the thing is, for each of these diseases the genes don't always get passed down to each child regardless of even both the mother and father possessing the gene. So let's say two people with the HLADQ8 gene have two kids, one gets the gene and the other doesn't. The child that does not carry the gene is no longer in this risk category and the risk of developing the disease is no longer there. The gene is no longer present in that genetic line, so his/her kids will be fine. The other sibling carries the gene which gives risk to passing it to their child therefor giving a cousin the potential of having the disease while you are at ZERO risk.

Not only that, when we speak of cousins we are looking at another parent that is not blood related to you that could have brought the genes. In this specific case, you are 3rd cousins, your chances are ZERO, NIL, ZIPPO. Stop worrying.