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Genetics/Inheritance

Commonly Asked Questions

Cure HHT does not provide medical advice, nor does the printing of these answers constitute medical advice. For professional advice consult your medical caregiver.

If I have HHT, what is the chance a child of mine will have HHT?

Each child born to an HHT parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the HHT gene mutation. One copy of each gene is inherited from the father and the other copy from the mother. People with HHT have one normal copy of the HHT gene and one mutated copy. When a person with HHT has a child, he or she will either pass on the normal copy of the gene or the copy with the mutation. A child who inherits the gene with the mutation will have HHT. A child who inherits the normal copy of the gene will not have inherited HHT. Therefore, each time a person with HHT has a child, there is a 50% chance that the child will have HHT.

Can HHT skip generations?

No, but sometimes it can look like it did. At the genetic level, you either have HHT or you don’t. There is no such thing as being a carrier of HHT (that term is reserved for genetic disorders that are recessive, not dominant like HHT). If a grandparent and grandchild both have HHT, it can safely be assumed that the "parent" in between the two also has HHT. However, since symptoms of HHT can be EXTREMELY variable even within the same family, it is possible that the “parent” shows such mild symptoms that are not obvious, it could make it seem like HHT skipped a generation. For example, some people with HHT get multiple nosebleeds per day, while some people only get a couple per year.

What ethnic groups are affected by HHT?

HHT is an "equal opportunity" disorder. It is not limited to, or found predominantly in, people of a particular ethnic background, as are some other genetic disorders.  HHT has been found on every continent.  Cure HHT has had requests for information from China, Greece, India, Japan, Peru, Russia, Norway, South Africa, to name just a few. Treatment centers have been formed in many countries.

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