Genetics

MND Care Centre Website

Genetics - or could MND affect other people in my family?

In about 5-10% of people with MND, we find other close family members have also been affected. (This means that the vast majority, 90-95% have no family members affected or at risk of being affected).

Familial MND is called FALS (Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). This is usually inherited as a dominant trait which means that all children of the affected person have an equal chance of being affected.

Several different genetic abnormalities have been identified. Some of these can be tested for by doing a blood test and the commonest genetic abnormality only explains about one in five of the people who have familial MND. For this reason, it is not helpful to test most people to see whether there is a risk of passing on the disease.