Question: what illnesses are genetic

Dawn Lau answered on 17 Jun 2016:

Here is a list of genetic disorders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_disorders

A genetic disorder means that it is a disease that results from a change in your genes. You could inherit the mutated gene from your parents (a hereditary disease) or get a random mutation in your DNA via other factors. There are different ways to inherit mutated genes from your parents and it depends on the gene. For example, an autosomnal dominant disorder means that only one parent needs to pass on a copy of the mutated gene in order for the child to get the disease. That doesn’t mean the child will ALWAYS get the disease, just that only one copy is needed in the child to cause disease. If the disease requires two copies of the gene to cause disease (one from each parent), then it’s autosomnal recessive. There are other types of inheritance too but you can read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_disorder.

To use Alzheimer’s disease as an example, it has both a genetic and sporadic component. It can be passed on through your parents (inherited), but if your parents have Alzheimer’s it doesn’t necessarily mean you will have it too. The most common form of Alzheimer’s disease is not inherited, but it occurs randomly due to other factors (sporadic).