T1 & Parental Arthritis

[Curdster]

I have recently heard of a T1 child who's mother has started to develop arthritis. My own mother has suffered from Arthritis for years and has had several joints replaced.
Is this common? Is there a link between parental Arthritis and T1?

 

[Northerner]

I'm not sure, but I think I heard that rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, like Type 1 (not sure though!). My Dad has psoriasis, which is autoimmune.

 

[trophywench]

RA is auto-immune so I spose you have a genetic marker for AI problems if you have a parent with summat like that?

 

[AlisonM]

I have RA, diagnosed about 20 years ago and T1.5, dxd in 2009. They're both autoimmune diseases, as is my other main bugbear the Addison's disease. I'm not sure how the RA and diabetes are connected, but there does seem to be a statistically significant number of people with RA who go on to develop T1/1.5. I'm not sure about family linkages as I'm the only one of my clan with either so I haven't done any research on that aspect.

 

[Tina63]

My mum (my son's Grandmother) has Arthritis and my brother had another pretty rare autoimmune disorder Guillian Barre Syndrome a few years ago, so think there could be a link there in our family.

My sister-in-law said asthma and allergies are autoimmune disorders - is that so? Her children have a mixture of allergies (one severe nut allergy), eczema and asthma. I had never thought of those as autoimmune. My husband's sister has asthma too.

 

[AlisonM]

Yes, that's right. I started out with eczema and allergies, got rid of the eczema and acquired RA at about the same time then got Addison's. There's a strong family history on both sides of allergies, asthma and eczema, I'd be fascinated to find out how all these autoimmune problems relate, if they do.

 

[Tina63]

I'm convinced that in my family it was all to do with our upbringing! We lived in the middle of nowhere, people still had outside toilets (yes, even in the 70's) and we picked fresh veg out of the garden and ate them raw with mud on them. We played in ditches, up trees, made potions with mud, ashes, flower petals, dared each other to eat grass, weeds, absolutely anything. People kept chickens so we were forever collecting eggs, no rubber gloves or disinfectant in sight, we weren't even brought up to wash our hands (yuk!!)

Yet I truly believe we were rarely ill as children. Yes, we had all the usual childhood illnesses, yet I rarely even remember colds. We never had a day ill in bed, and I really do believe we had brilliant immune systems. Is that why, then, my own son obviously has an over active immune system (though I did bring him up to wash his hands I'm glad to say)? He was rarely ill before this. He was a stranger to our GP. He had only ever seen him a handful of times in his life. Since the diabetes diagnosis though, he went on to have cold after cold last year, 8 in total - it was shocking. All very weird, yet interesting.

I should have been a scientist! I am intruiged by all this. One day we will find out and say 'Oh yes......!'

 

[Hanmillmum]

There is RA and thyroid disease in our families which has = T1 in Millie. I suppose it is which part of the body that decides to fight/attack itself as if some sort of pathogen, if some pre-disposition for autoimmune disease is present in the genes (?)

 

[Tina63]

Oh yes and my son's auntie has just been diagnosed with underactive thyroid. Forgot that's one of them too.