Will You Pass IgA Nephropathy to Your Children

Once you are diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy and meantime a mother or father, one of your worry may be: will I pass the disease to my Children?

After many years’ research, the nephrologists don’t find the direct relation of heredity and IgA Nephropathy. But, relatively, if one of your family members has this disease, you seem to have a greater chance to develop such a disease.
The following is currently known by far:

Familial clustering. There appears to be a familial clustering of IgA nephropathy which shows strong family predisposition in about 10% of cases, with this being more common in some specific regions or in families from those regions. In the U.S., these include Kentucky and parts of the Southeast. In other parts of the world, familial clustering of IgAN seems to be more common in Southern France and Italy.

Ethnicity. In addition to the regional-based familial clustering, IgAN is known to be more common in some specific ethnic groups (although it does not necessarily run in families). IgAN is most common in people of Asian ethnicity (oriental), followed by Hispanics and then Caucasians (seems to be relatively more common among the French). It is least common in African Americans. IgAN is also more common in American Indians than it is in whites.

Not familial. Greater than 90% of IgA nephropathy is not familial (in other words, there are no other family members with the disease).