What are some health conditions that have genetic traits?
6 Most Common Hereditary Diseases
- Sickle Cell Disease. Sickle cell disease is a hereditary disease caused by mutations in one of the genes that encode the hemoglobin protein.
- Cystic Fibrosis.
- Tay-Sachs.
- Hemophilia.
- Huntington’s Disease.
- Muscular Dystrophy.
What is a health trait that can be passed on to you from your parents?
Parents pass on traits or characteristics, such as eye colour and blood type, to their children through their genes. Some health conditions and diseases can be passed on genetically too. Sometimes, one characteristic has many different forms. For example, blood type can be A, B, AB or O.
What diseases can be genetically inherited?
Diseases and disorders with complex inheritance patterns include:
- Alzheimer’s disease.
- Arthritis.
- Cancer.
- Dementia.
- Diabetes.
- Heart disease.
- High blood pressure.
- Multiple sclerosis.
Is asthma a genetic disease?
Asthma runs strongly in families and is about half due to genetic susceptibility and about half due to environmental factors (8, 9). The strong familial clustering of asthma has encouraged an increasing volume of research into the genetic predisposition to disease.
What are genetic traits in humans?
Human traits with possible monogenic or oligogenic inheritance patterns
| Dominant | Recessive |
|---|---|
| Widow’s peak | straight hair line |
| ocular hypertelorism | Hypotelorism |
| Normal digestive muscle | POLIP syndrome |
| Facial dimples * | No facial dimples |
What are 3 genetic disorders?
There are three types of genetic disorders:
- Single-gene disorders, where a mutation affects one gene. Sickle cell anemia is an example.
- Chromosomal disorders, where chromosomes (or parts of chromosomes) are missing or changed.
- Complex disorders, where there are mutations in two or more genes.
How many genetic conditions are there?
There are well over 6,000 known genetic disorders, and new genetic disorders are constantly being described in medical literature. More than 600 genetic disorders are treatable. Around 1 in 50 people are affected by a known single-gene disorder, while around 1 in 263 are affected by a chromosomal disorder.
How are some diseases inherited from the parents?
Some diseases are caused by mutations that are inherited from the parents and are present in an individual at birth, like sickle cell disease. Other diseases are caused by acquired mutations in a gene or group of genes that occur during a person’s life.
Can you inherit physical traits from your parents?
Well, did you know that it is not just the looks that you can inherit from your parents, but certain diseases too? Yes, as we know, we can acquire a lot of physical and personality traits from our parents and even other family members due to the DNA transfer that occurs between the parent and offspring.
How much influence does either parent have on your genes?
How much of an influence either parent’s genes have depends on the disease. If your mom has a condition like Huntington’s disease, because of the way the gene is inherited, you’ll have a 50-50 chance of also getting the disease.
Why are related parents more likely to have health problems?
Genes and genetics – related parents Related parents are more likely than unrelated parents to have children with health problems or genetic conditions. This is because the two parents share one or more common ancestors and so carry some of the same genetic material.