We often hear doctors say: “Anxiety can be hereditary,” or “Did you get that temper from your father or mother?” This raises an important question: do children inherit their parents’ diseases, anxiety, stress, or even their way of interacting with life? Could it be a chain stretching across generations that reaches the child?
In this report, we dive into the depths of genes and heredity to understand them—and thus help protect our children from inherited physical and mental health conditions. Dr. Ibrahim Shukri, a pediatrician, emphasizes that parental awareness and understanding are key to prevention.
How Are Genetic Diseases Passed On?
Children inherit diseases from their parents because they receive half of their genetic material from each parent. These diseases are transmitted through genes and can appear if:
Both parents carry a recessive gene, or
One parent carries a dominant gene
This includes conditions like blood disorders, diabetes, certain types of headaches (like migraines), and other disorders. Genetic testing can help evaluate these risks.
A child receives half of their genes from the father and half from the mother. If a parent carries a defective gene, the child may inherit it as a dominant condition (showing symptoms if inherited from one parent) or a recessive condition (showing symptoms only if inherited from both parents, even if the parents are healthy), such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, or thalassemia.
The Importance of Genetic Testing
Genetic testing for parents helps determine if they carry genes for hereditary diseases and assess the risk for their children. Genetic counseling helps interpret test results and determine the best strategies for prevention or management of potential conditions.
Heredity in Life and Science
Children inherit not only genes but also traits like hair color, voice tone, smiles, and even predispositions to heart disease or depression. A study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry found that children growing up in emotionally unstable households were 2.5 times more likely to develop psychological disorders before age 18.
Science shows that genes are influenced by life experiences—stress, love, diet, sleep, and even parental affection can determine whether certain genes are “activated.” In other words, we don’t just inherit genes; we also reshape them.
Common Hereditary Physical Diseases
Type 2 Diabetes: Risk increases up to 40% if one parent is affected.
High Blood Pressure: Genes play a role, but lifestyle remains the main factor.
Artery Diseases: Including strokes and atherosclerosis, especially if occurring early in the family.
Allergies, Asthma, and Eczema: Often appear together in certain families, affecting children from an early age.
Healthy Habits Are Stronger Than Genes
Parents cannot change their genes, but they control daily habits:
Maintain a healthy weight.
Make exercise part of the daily routine—even walking helps.
Eat a balanced diet and reduce sugar and saturated fats.
Inherited Psychological Disorders
Psychological conditions may be an invisible inheritance, often overlooked compared to physical conditions like diabetes or hypertension.
Depression: Children have up to 3 times higher risk if a parent suffers from chronic depression.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder: More common among children raised in prolonged stressful environments.
Schizophrenia & Bipolar Disorder: Linked to specific genes; risk increases if present in parents or close relatives.
Even if a genetic predisposition exists, absence of environmental triggers can prevent the disorder from manifesting.
Steps to Make a Difference
Emotional Support: Children who feel secure learn to trust themselves and others.
Open Communication: A safe space for expression reduces repression and chronic anxiety.
Family Stability: Reduces risks of depression and aggression later in life.
Breaking the Genetic Cycle
Review your family history, noting repeated physical and mental conditions.
Consult specialists: family doctors, sometimes psychiatrists, to guide preventive measures.
Change lifestyle patterns: for example, daily exercise and reduced sugar can delay the onset of genetically predisposed diabetes.
Provide children with what may have been lacking in your own upbringing: affection, listening, and an emotionally safe environment.
Genes do not define a perfect parent. Awareness, love, and desire to improve can make a difference—even if a child inherits a mental disorder or a hereditary disease. What matters is what you do today: your hugs, attention to health, bedtime conversations—these are the “emotional genes” shaping their future.
Give yourself compassion, and give your child security. What we pass on is not only in the blood—it’s also what we plant in their soul.
Post a Comment