Can i inherit emphasemia from my maternal mother

Question

my original question was can i inherit emphasemia from my mother if so is there a preventative medicine? i think i can inherit it but can i prevent it????is there a medication

Answer 1

emphysema is not an inherited disease.. .it is caused by abusing your lungs with some type of pollutant, generally, smoking is a major contributor...

Answer 2

No it isn't a disease that can be inherited. My mum died from it four years ago. My self and my siblings show no sign of it, my mum smoked for many years, we don't.

Answer 3

no

Answer 4

Just occasionally someone may have a disposition to emphysema because they are born with a deficiency of a chemical called alpha1-antitrypsin, but it is usually caused by smoking or very occasionally atmospheric pollution.

Women are less likely to die from chronic obstructive lung disease than men.

As far as I know there is no medication to prevent it, except to give up smoking or avoid being a secondary smoker.  It can't be cured but sufferers can be helped with broncholdilator drugs and sometimes corticosteroid drugs.

Answer 5

I am a Registered Nurse.  I can tell you that you cannot inherit emphysema.  It is a disease that develops as a direct result to your lung health and how you take care of your lungs (smoking, history of asthma, etc.).

Also, I can tell you that this is the genealogy forum, not genetics or medical.  We research family trees, we do not study DNA.  You are in the wrong place for this question.  It was just luck for you that an RN happens to spend time on the genealogy board.

Answer 6

Emphysema is caused by Smoking primarily.

It is not inherited, some asthema patients do get emphysema.

Answer 7

No it is not inherited but caused by stuff getting in your lungs that should not be there.

Answer 8

Edit: If you have already read my answer. I am providing you with a much better link.  The branch of my family that has the problem isn't  myJewish but the link is very good.   I have a feeling you have someone trying to warn you about smoking and you need to see the link to get a better understanding.  You just might even be related.

                                                                                                                                           You can inherit a dispositon to respiratory ailments, which includes emphysema and copd.

http://www.nationaljewish.org/disease-in...

I have a some deficiency of antitrypsin.  I have never smoked.  I had been exposed to 2nd hand smoke in the workplace in the past.  I have been given an inhaler to use when necessary as I have some obstruction.

The above link is from a Jewish source. The branch of my family that has the problem is not my Jewish ancestry.  But it is a good link describing the problem.

I found out when doing family history that my paternal grandmother's family had a high incidence of emphysema.  Both had children by 2 marriages and had children by both marriages with emphysema..  My father had a sister that died in her 30s and another that died at 52 and she had to carry an oxygen tank with her the last 12 years of her life. He also had brothers that had emphysema.   I have a copy of a letter from my grandmother's sister and she had a son with emphysema.  I recently was contacted by email by a great granddaughter of my grandmother's sister.  She said her grandmother stopped smoking early in life and died of emphysema and her mother never smoked and died of emphysema.   Our famly line that has the problem goes back to Ireland.  Our family has been studied.  

My older sister never smoked but she was bothered by bronchial problems.  Her daughter did smoke and was diagnosed as having some emphysema in her 20s.

I have given warning to all family that descend from my great grandmother to not smoke.  One cousin, who did,  had  a Pulmonary Function Test done and found she had obstruction and also had a deficiency of Alpha-A Antitrypsin. So yes,  if you have the deficiency you can be at greater risk than others.

Recently another cousin died and I found out she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and COPD.  She did not smoke, but she grew up exposed to her mother's second hand smoke.

Luckily, neither of my parents smoked, so we were not exposed to it at home.

Answer 9

No, you cannot inherit it. It can be cured but only if caught early.