Genetics, Health And Breeding?

[windsongwhippets]

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Hi

Sadly I know for a fact that PRA does exist in Whippets because I had a case. This dog was not an import but was of all modern English lines. I did not breed him. This dog was CERF'd at just under 2 years of age and was fine. At about 5 1/2 tragedy hit. I was faced with eliminating he and any of his get from my program. Fortunately none of the puppies he sired have been reported to have the problem, but all are carriers. None will ever be bred from.

PRA is rare in Whippets but it does exist. It sure is right up there on the list of health problems that are extremely serious. As are heart problems. These are things which cannot be tolerated in a breeding situation. Cryptorchids are a fact of life in this breed, but it is not life threatening and certainly wouldn't keep a dog from being a wonderful pet.

Fortunately we have great resources in the USA for testing. Unfortunately some things do not show up until later in life. Sometimes alot of damage can be done either before a problem has been diagnosed ( if the dog has been used for breeding) or by breeders who are not entirely honest when they discover a problem.

Do you not have eye testing or BAER testing available to you in the UK ?

Carol

 

[Ridgesetter]

Cryptorchids are a fact of life in this breed, but it is not life threatening and certainly wouldn't keep a dog from being a wonderful pet.

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I believe that cryptorchidism is a relatively easy problem to reduce and/or eliminate as as breeders don't see it as life threatening, it continues to plague the breed. For me, this is a major problem as testicle problems mean fewer males to breed from and that sisters of affected dogs carry the problem. Lately I've heard many breeders from various countries say that we are short of good males. Maybe cryptorchidism is a contributing factor.

Cheers

 

[Seraphina]

Cryptorchids are a fact of life in this breed, but it is not life threatening and certainly wouldn't keep a dog from being a wonderful pet.

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I believe that cryptorchidism is a relatively easy problem to reduce and/or eliminate as as breeders don't see it as life threatening, it continues to plague the breed. For me, this is a major problem as testicle problems mean fewer males to breed from and that sisters of affected dogs carry the problem. Lately I've heard many breeders from various countries say that we are short of good males. Maybe cryptorchidism is a contributing factor.

Cheers

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I have just watched an interesting documentary about fertility problems. One of the things mentioned was that undescended testicles is rapidly increasing problem in humans, together with declining semen quality. This is being attributed to environmental factors, or to be precise to chemicals that disrupt the functioning of endocrinal system. In dogs cryptorchids seem to run in families and some breeds seem to be affected more than others, which suggests more than just environmental causation, but I am certainly taking as many precautions as I can and so far, cross my fingers all my boys were fine, most having their testicles very soon after birth, the one "late" one was fine by about 6 weeks.

 

[dragonfly]

Here is another inherited condition that is becoming more common and is extremely disabling although not life threatening. It is a terrible blow to anyone who has a pet and can no longer enjoy a daily walk.

The condition is.....Corns

It may seem a small thing, until you have it. I was speaking to somebody the other day who was in despair over the condition of her dogs health.

Cathie

 

[Seraphina]

Here is another inherited condition that is becoming more common and is extremely disabling although not life threatening. It is a terrible blow to anyone who has a pet and can no longer enjoy a daily walk.
The condition is.....Corns

It may seem a small thing, until you have it. I was speaking to somebody the other day who was in despair over the condition of her dogs health.

Cathie

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Yes, I know a beautiful dog that has been totally crippled by corns, or should i say several operations to remove them. But the way I understood it the corns were caused by virus???

Just googled this;

corns

 

[~JO~]

Here is another inherited condition that is becoming more common and is extremely disabling although not life threatening. It is a terrible blow to anyone who has a pet and can no longer enjoy a daily walk.
The condition is.....Corns

It may seem a small thing, until you have it. I was speaking to somebody the other day who was in despair over the condition of her dogs health.

Cathie

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Is this inherited?

One of my males, had a very nasty corn removed over a month ago - it was so painful for him and he incredibly lame. He is much better but it was a horrible op. Unfortunately he is going back to the vets today as he has another on his other front foot and has gone lame again He is so very miserable

As he is on steroids permanently for a non-specific rhinitis I assumed that the corns were really due to his very weak immune system.

 

[UKUSA]

Hi
Sadly I know for a fact that PRA does exist in Whippets because I had a case.  This dog was not an import but was of all modern English lines.  I did not breed him.  This dog was CERF'd at just under 2 years of age and was fine.  At about 5 1/2  tragedy hit.  I was faced with eliminating he and any of his get from my program.  Fortunately none of the puppies he sired have been reported to have the problem, but all are carriers.  None will ever be bred from.

PRA is rare in Whippets but it does exist.  It sure is right up there on the list of health problems that are extremely serious.  As are heart problems.  These are things which cannot be tolerated in a breeding situation.  Cryptorchids are a fact of life in this breed, but it is not life threatening and certainly wouldn't keep a dog from being a wonderful pet.

Fortunately we have great resources in the USA for testing.  Unfortunately some things do not show up until later in life.  Sometimes alot of damage can be done either before a problem has been diagnosed ( if the dog has been used for breeding) or by breeders who are not entirely honest when they discover a problem.

Do you not have eye testing or BAER testing available to you in the UK ?

Carol

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Carol,

I must applaud you for your absolute honesty.This is not the first time that I have heard of P.R.A in the breed or other eye problems. I admire you for standing up and giving your own experiences. I dont believe that the breed is heading to hell in a hand basket BUT I do think that it is now time for testing to be done as a matter of course before it is to late.Maybe we in this country need to ask our breed clubs to set up testing at the breed shows and maybe start publishing the results as other breeds do.

I know that I have said this before but with the Whippet world so open and certainly in this country people rushing to use imports that they know very little about it is time for all of us, no matter where we live, to ask questions and where we can see proof that validates the health of any dog that is put into the gene pool.

Once again Carol, well done you if only others were as courageous without turning this into a witch hunt.

Nicky

 

[patsy]

Hi
Sadly I know for a fact that PRA does exist in Whippets because I had a case.  This dog was not an import but was of all modern English lines.  I did not breed him.  This dog was CERF'd at just under 2 years of age and was fine.  At about 5 1/2  tragedy hit.  I was faced with eliminating he and any of his get from my program.  Fortunately none of the puppies he sired have been reported to have the problem, but all are carriers.  None will ever be bred from.

PRA is rare in Whippets but it does exist.  It sure is right up there on the list of health problems that are extremely serious.  As are heart problems.  These are things which cannot be tolerated in a breeding situation.  Cryptorchids are a fact of life in this breed, but it is not life threatening and certainly wouldn't keep a dog from being a wonderful pet.

Fortunately we have great resources in the USA for testing.  Unfortunately some things do not show up until later in life.  Sometimes alot of damage can be done either before a problem has been diagnosed ( if the dog has been used for breeding) or by breeders who are not entirely honest when they discover a problem.

Do you not have eye testing or BAER testing available to you in the UK ?

Carol

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Carol,

I must applaud you for your absolute honesty.This is not the first time that I have heard of P.R.A in the breed or other eye problems. I admire you for standing up and giving your own experiences. I dont believe that the breed is heading to hell in a hand basket BUT I do think that it is now time for testing to be done as a matter of course before it is to late.Maybe we in this country need to ask our breed clubs to set up testing at the breed shows and maybe start publishing the results as other breeds do.

I know that I have said this before but with the Whippet world so open and certainly in this country people rushing to use imports that they know very little about it is time for all of us, no matter where we live, to ask questions and where we can see proof that validates the health of any dog that is put into the gene pool.

Once again Carol, well done you if only others were as courageous without turning this into a witch hunt.

Nicky

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Yes Carol I have always admired you for your complete honesty, and your help to me, yes in England we have heard whispers and that's all that it has been. You have to be so careful with no hard and fast evidence, unless people are completely honest when problems have ac cured and have not had their animals tested where oh where do we go. So that is my theory for sticking to the lines that we have got and have had no problems. I would be for testing no doubt about it.

I have been in Staffordshire Bull Terriers for many years (not Now) and know what sterling work the breeders have done to eradicate their eye problem. It was so heart breaking to see top sires and many beautiful Champions being taken out of breeding programs. When A top dog was tested and not clear the owners always advertised the facts and withdrew their services.

So yes eye test are available there is a column in the dog papers telling you where and when. Plus most breeders of Bull Terriers Baer test.

The other thing I would like to say is that the Kennel club sent health forms to all breed clubs, it did not get anywhere because the majority of clubs did not think there were problems.

 

[beaker]

i know in some breeds, with the merest mention or hint at a problem in a line, liable action has been threatened, one i know of has been in a fairly small breed where only a few breeders dominate and the breed community is more closed off and less friendly than whippet breeders. one of the issue's in this particular breed was patela luxation but rather than all get together and try and reduce the incidence, no one was able to take a deep breath and make the first move, instead, mud slinging, scare mongering and arguements seem to have been the prefered action, each trying to score points and each apparently horrified at the notion of going anywhere near another breeders line.

with this sort of carry on, it's understandable that some people fear making a problem with one of their dogs public, anyone who is open and honest enough to share the information and not just quietly sweep an issue under the carpet is truely a saviour of a breed and should be applauded.

i'd be happy if tests were necessary on all reproducing dogs to nip potential problems in the bud

"a stitch in time" :thumbsup:

becka

 

[seaspot_run]

Here in the US, there has been a study of mitral valve murmurs in Whippets which is still ongoing. Several of our more prominent breeders have come forward about late-onset mitral murmurs in their top sires. In these cases, the murmurs presented after the dog had already sired scores of litters and had grandchildren among our top 20 show dogs, so putting the genie back in the bottle wasn't something that was possible to do.

The mitral valve issue in Whippets is widespread and shared by many of our best lines. Some breeders are more candid than others. Some breeders are candid but feel problems that do not present until late middle age aren't as important as problems that present in the puppy and young dog of competitive years. It's the "you have to die of something" line of thought. I know the problem has been present for years, but when you're an individual owner, it seems like bad luck or a fluke. It's only when people really start putting their accounts together that you can see that in fact the problem is widespread, likely quite hereditary, and running more frequently in some lines than in others.

There is little doubt in my mind that the mitral valve issue in most of our US stock goes back to UK imports from the 1960's which were not only heavily-used, but repeatedly linebred and inbred upon. These dogs were repeatedly linebred and inbred upon because they were extremely successful in producing superb quality. But along with that, I believe that there was a predisposition to developing valvular murmurs at under the age of 10. While some of these dogs live on to relatively ripe old ages with or without medication, others are progressing to cardiomyopathy and symptomatic coronary disease while still in single digits. I've had a couple such (males) who were formerly healthy develop rapid, late-onset valvular disease and die of it at around 9 years of age, which is unacceptable. Like many other US breeders, I am in the process of sorting through my available breeding stock and finding dogs who appear to have no evidence of the problem and concentrating on them. There are very few totally clean pedigrees among our top winning and top producing dogs, but that is not to say that all top producers appear to carry many of the genes that code for late-onset mitral valve murmurs.

Because the parents of the imports in question remained in the UK and are to be found in UK pedigrees, it defies my logic that the same issues we are confronting aren't also to be found in some lines in the UK.

The main difficulty with mitral valve is that it doesn't present in most cases until a bitch is past her reproductive prime and a male, if any good, will likely have been used by that age, as well. Also, we don't yet know how to differentiate the cases which are mild and stay that way and allow the dog to live a normal span (and probably die of something else) and the cases that will progress very rapidly and result in death between 8-10 years of age. There is recently a very distressing example of a dog who was used a lot between the ages of 1 and 4 and then stroked and died, and now some of his offspring which are now approaching 4 are becoming symptomatic and diagnosed, and this is a terrible thing for those breeders, and the owners of his younger children who are just waiting and hoping that the other genetic shoe doesn't drop on any of their puppies by him.

The owners, while they haven't taken out any front page ads, have been pretty forthcoming, and that's quite admirable.

The difference between the cardiac health problem and other problems which have cropped up from place to place and time to time in my tenure in the breed is that in this case, the problem is widespread among breeders and lines which are among our most successful, and also owned by persons of influence and means. So, we have a study commissioned and a lot of attention being paid, and the breeders here are hoping that we get sensible guidelines and diagnostic and testing protocols out of it to help us get a handle on it. In this case, if we do not all hang together, as Ben Franklin once said, we will surely all hang separately. The American Whippet Club and the Health Committee have been proactive on this one and are to be commended. Each National has an eye, hearing, and cardiac clinic attached to it.

There are a few breeders who should be more forthcoming, but are not. It's a cold comfort to be congratulated and feted for your honesty, but not patronized for puppies or stud dogs in favor of breeders who admit to no problems, when in fact, you know they have some of the same problems you've had.

Another reality is that you can breed the healthiest Whippets in the world, but if they aren't really good at something, nobody will use them but you, so their impact on the gene pool of the breed will be nonexistent, although your pet buyers will be very happy, of course.

The goal is to keep the quality, and decrease the numbers of carriers in the lines that produce the quality animals which are of wide interest due to their ability to win.

I admit to being surprised about PRA becoming an issue in US Whippets. I thought that most of the findings of late-onset cataract and vitreous degeneration were trivial at best, but PRA obviously has to be taken much more seriously as it results in blindness. Kudos to Carol for being honest about it. I used a dog once who was clear at 4 when I used him, but later developed PRA. They sent him out to UC-Davis and were told it was not a hereditary form :unsure: , but I know of at least one of his offspring who developed it.

Karen Lee

 

[patsy]

Well Karen it all seems to be well and truly all back on our door steps, the heart problems from the famous dogs of the sixties, and now modern English lines producing PRA.

The whispers of heart problems in the lines here would certainly not trace back to these dogs, unless I am barking up the wrong tree. Unless dogs are tested and the results are made known there is not a great deal that can be done.

 

[seaspot_run]

The eye problems in US Whippets that I'm aware of (Carol's info is new to me) go back more to dogs who had little import blood up close. I've tended to think of cardiac as being more import-based, and eye problems as being more "old American lines".

The opinion about the 60's imports is just that--an opinion. But the thing is, that the dogs I had who were most affected are very tightly bred on those imports, so it is what it is, Patsy. If they didn't get it from genes brought over from the UK, then I really don't see where else it could have come from. My original breeding program was about 95% based on those imported dogs.

That's not to say that I think the UK has the same level of problems. We superconcentrated that bloodline in our US show lines in some cases because it produced such good results.

It may be that the problem is fairly rare in the UK, but I'm just saying that even though the actual manifestation of the problem may be more rare, the genes are surely present in some lines in the UK today.

 

[seaspot_run]

To get back to the original poster's question, here are the problems that I am personally aware of that have surfaced in the North American gene pool. Obviously, some are more serious than others and some may have a strong environmental component to them, some are known to be hereditary, and some are possibly congenital or of very polygenic or unknown mode of inheritance.

Problems affecting newborn puppies:

Cleft palate

megaesophagus

parrot mouth (usually goes along with a cleft)

skeletal limb deformities (some people report these can correct themselves--I'm not convinced this is usually the case)

intestines on the outside of body wall protruding from the umbilicus region

Congenital deafness (in one or both ears)

congenital heart defect (a hole between the chambers)

developmental failures of the kidneys

(note, these last two are usually reasons for Failure to Thrive)

Problems seen in older puppies and young adults:

heart murmur

cryptorchidism

juvenile cataract (basically eradicated by the first breeder to report finding it)

localized Demodecs (I have never heard of a Whippet with generalized Demodecs)

Problems which show up between ages of 1 and 5:

Addison's disease

Hypothyroidism

Mitral murmurs

Idiopathic Epilepsy

Assorted rare eye defects--some of which are not progressive to actual vision problems

Crumbling toenails (probably autoimmune but can be fungal)

Miscellaneous autoimmune-mediated problems

Head tremors

Problems which show up 6 and over:

cataracts (really still very rare)

Serious valvular disease

Of the above problems, I really think that most are fairly uncommon, not predictably hereditary, lethal in puppies, or related to aging.

The ones which are most devastating to the owner of a companion Whippet are the more early onset forms of cardiac disease, epilepsy, Addisons, and the various autoimmune-mediated illnesses as these are hard to diagnose and expensive to treat.

Eye problems other than PRA are more of a problem for the breeder as they seldom progress to visual problems until the extreme geriatric ages, anyhow. The inheritance of the four problems I listed above is currently unknown but as they are all more prevalent in some breeds than others, it's pretty clear there has to be some genetic component, but there is also likely an environmental trigger in some cases as well.

I think that the vast majority of Whippets here in North America ARE healthy and compared to a lot of other breeds, our problems are relatively few and generally do not cause the dog pain. Compared to things like hip and elbow dysplasia, I'll take what we have to deal with every time. There's also a lot of talk that things like hypothyroidism, autoimmune problems, etc, is related to overvaccinating. The jury is still out on that one.

I do not personally believe that Von Willebrands exists in Whippets. But I guess there's a first time for everything.

We also have a the recent issue of myostatin deficiency (aka the "Bully" gene) which has surfaced in North American racing lines. So far, it appears to be limited to a few of those faster racing lines, but of course, testing is just recently available and perhaps that will not prove to be the case.

That was a really great example of a group of fanciers getting together and deciding to pool their info and solve a problem whether or not they'd encountered it themselves yet, or not. They raised the money, got the researchers, organized a wide sampling effort to give the researchers enough DNA to do the comparisons and isolate the gene (it turned out to be a single recessive gene which in duplicate, caused the manifestation of the condition, but singly was often found on dogs who were very fast but not affected by the Bully problems or extreme overmuscling).

I think that project serves as a wonderful example to us all, but not all health problems are going to be so easily isolated and ascribed to a single gene factor.

Karen

 

[dragonfly]

I thought it was WELL KNOWN that in the UK there have been quite a few dogs with heart problems of various sorts. Years ago I had a bitch who developed a heart murmur at about 11 and lived to the ripe old age of 16 on medication, but I have to say that many of the owners of her puppies called me up when the pups were 10-11 years old and reported a heart murmer. I have nothing from that bitch in my pedigrees now nor would I want it, I don't want to sell pets that are going to get sick in old age.

No breeder can say their lines are probably clear of inherited disorders unless they keep in contact with the owner of every pup they have bred, or that one of their dogs has sired, and if there is illness or early death, have it carefully checked by a specialist vet or have a postmortem!

Why do whippet breeders think that the Whippet as a breed is not going to experience inherited defects as have many other breeds. It is what happens in closed populations sooner or later. Whippets are numerically a large breed, people have different tastes & use many different sires, but gradually what has happened in numerically smaller breeds will happen in ours. We should, as a breed get our heads out of the sand before it is too late and ensure diversity and good health for the future while the breed is in a relatively good state.

Cathie

 

[UKUSA]

Well Karen, that is some kind of list, enough to put you off breeding forever! Some of it I was familiar with, some not. I dont think that at the end of the day it matters where the problems came from only that they are here, to one degree or another and now all of us should work together to get rid of them before our lovely breed is swamped with them. It does not matter where any of us live, all of our Whippets are related, either closely or distantly, all of our Whippets started in the same place. Above everything else the one thing that that we all share is our love of the breed and there is no getting away from the fact that we do have problems.

I think that its time that we all worked together and in this country take a leaf out of the A.W.C book and start a Health Committee run along the same lines as our American friends run theirs making tests available at our breed club championship shows.

We have a congress coming up this summer so it will be interesting to hear what comes out of that when health issues are addressed.

Again I say well done Carol for being so open, it would be terrific if others out there who have themselves knowledge of various problems felt brave enough to talk about them.

Nicky

 

[Eceni]

Well Karen, that is some kind of list, enough to put you off breeding forever! Some of it I was familiar with, some not. I dont think that at the end of the day it matters where  the problems came from only that they are here, to one degree or another and now all of us should work together to get rid of them  before our lovely breed is swamped with them. It does not matter where any of us live, all of our Whippets are related, either closely or distantly, all of our Whippets started in the same place. Above  everything else the one thing that that we all share is our love of the breed and there is no getting away from the fact that we do have problems.I think that its time that we all worked together and in this country take a leaf out of the A.W.C book and start a Health Committee run along the same lines as our American friends run theirs making tests available at our  breed club championship shows.

We have a congress coming up this summer so it will be interesting to hear what comes out of that when health issues are addressed.

Again I say well done Carol for being so open, it would be terrific if others out there who have themselves knowledge of various problems felt brave enough to  talk about them.

Nicky

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I would say well done to all of you for the integrity, honesty and candour of the posts - both on-list and off list. It would seem, that as various of you have said, the breed isn't anywhere near as much of a genetic catastrophe as some other pedigree breeds - -

(when I was a vet I evolved a Theory of Karma which proposed that all breeders of English Bulldogs would be fated to be reincarnated as every single puppy they had ever bred... I imagine that after the second or third life of chronic hypoxia, you'd begin to wish you'd paid a little more attention to form over function and a little less running your dogs headlong into the Kennel Club's genetic equivalent of an oncoming bus... but then I was an anaesthetist and you don't have to attempt to intubate too many dogs with a trachea smaller than a cat's to wonder who's idea it was and why they thought it was clever. If it applies to all dog-breeders, Whippet breeders can be fairly happy. Pig breeders, of course, are going to spend a lot of time wishing the world were vegetarian...)

but, that apart, on line and offline, it would seem that overwhelmingly, people are concerned in this country with the autoimmune syndromes that are being seen in whippets.

These seem to include an early onset, steroid-responsive PUO (pyrexia of unknown origin), which either dissipates after a few unpleasant episodes, OR moves on to become an autoimmune arthritis and/or other potentially autoimmune conditions - thyroiditis and meningitis being two cases in point. Others don't notice (Or haven't mentioned) the PUO, but have found autoimmune arthritis and other potentially autoimmune diseases.

while it is undoubtedly the case that there is an environmental component to this - the use of commercial dog diets, vaccination, the influence of widespread infra-red radiowaves, whatever - there's a limit to how much of these we can directly alter to improve our dogs' wellbeing - while the genetic component can undoubtedly be changed if the will exists.

I have no idea how big your gene pool really is - it would take a fairly significant bit of number-crunching to go back through the pedigrees and work out an average CoI and look at what sire and dam lines existed in the beginning and still exist now. And doubtless there have been developments in the breed that breeders and owners would be loathe to lose - nobody wants to go back to the whippet of the last century.

but something can be done to widen the gene pool and reduce the incidence of disease once we know what that truly is. I am sure that with time, patience and collective will, something could be done - and undoubtedly, as someone said (I think on this thread) - if nothing is done, the situation can only get worse.

If you do get together a Health Committee and need a (no longer practicing) vet, you know where I am.

thank you

m

 

[dragonfly]

That's a good offer Manda, I for one would love to see a genetic health committee formed. There is I believe the will among certain breeders but sadly there are still those who think that there are no problems. Some of the breeders who have been around the longest stubbornly refuse to admit that we have problems creeping in. Even if you have not knowingly suffered in your lines it is well known in the breed generally that there are "issues". There but by the grace of God go all who breed. I remember immune problems being discussed when I first came into the breed, and that is well over 20 years ago (w00t)

I know that there are vets interested in doing studies on Whippets in terms of IM disease. Don't let our breed end up like the duck tolling retriever where now every dog is a carrier!

Cathie

 

[patsy]

We are very strong breed numerically and the cases that have been whispered about all seem to come from the same lines, again no proof and unless you have facts and are prepared to state these facts the whole of the breed will get tarred with the same brush. You know Cathie that you and I have had words on several occasions and agreed to differ, I know you think differently but unless facts are put in front of me and dogs are named I am not prepared to listen, again I say if I had a problem I would have all the tests and make it known, I can not be fairer than that. All we have heard about in a breed with thousands of registrations are isolated cases.

 

[Eceni]

We are  very strong breed numerically and the cases that have been whispered about all seem to come from the same lines, again no proof and unless you have facts and are prepared to state these facts the whole of the breed will get tarred with the same brush. You know Cathie that you and I have had words on several occasions and agreed to differ, I know you think differently but unless facts are put in front of me and dogs are  named I am not prepared to listen, again I say if I had a problem I would have all the tests and make it known, I can not be fairer than that. All we have heard about in a breed with thousands of registrations are isolated cases.

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So what is needed, preumably, is a survey amongst vets and the pet-owning public to discover the true incidence of any particular condition and the breeding lines in which it's prevalent?

m

 

[~elizabeth~]

Just to say Cathy, how refreshing to hear a successful breeder talking so sensibly and honestly about breeding practices :thumbsup:

Of late, I have also heard of people having autoimmune problems--typically vaccine related--in their whippets.  Apparently this has been a big problem in Berners for quite some time, but it seems to be filtering it's way around other breeds as well.

while it is undoubtedly the case that there is an environmental component to this - the use of commercial dog diets, vaccination, the influence of widespread infra-red radiowaves, whatever - there's a limit to how much of these we can directly alter to improve our dogs' wellbeing - while the genetic component can undoubtedly be changed if the will exists. 

As I have understood it (being a sufferer of an AI condition myself, with a high percentage of other family members also affected by other immune-mediated problems), autoimmune disorders develop in individuals with predisposing genes, although they may or may not be triggered depending on certain environmental factors. Regardless of the nature of the latter, you are still only at risk of developing a condition if you inherit the genes for it. Related individuals who are lucky enough not to develop an autoimmune-related condition may still carry the genes and pass them onto future generations.