"My DNA Origins" and why I conduct research of my family history

I've been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, chronic pain syndrome, interstitial cystitis (painful bladder syndrome) and chronic asthma, etc. The day I was diagnosed I wanted to find out more about my genetics and family history. At this present time, no one in my family has these diseases so I asked my mother, "Am I adopted?" She laughed because she has been with my father for over 50 years. A long-term marriage isn't popular these days, my grandma and my grandfather were together for over 75 years until death-" Death does us part". So I have a family who believes in marriage, loyal to the belief sticking together.  So with both sides of my grandparents was easy for me to get familiar with their health. Now going back to the previous question I asked my mother, "Am I adopted?" We both laugh for 20 minutes but I was really serious because I didn't understand how and why I am diagnosed with these diseases and no one in my family has not been diagnosed with these diseases. I was overwhelmed with worry and  a sense of hopeless overcame me and wondering "Why God abandon me?"

This journey, I had approximately 20 or more surgical procedures, operations, etc., and it became deeply exhausting and depressing, I became spiritually bankrupt and isolated. When  I go out in society, no one couldn't see my emotions because I learn to put on a mask. The disease isn't visual,  I still looked like a "Diva". LOL

I experience constant flares with severe pain. The pain would be so unbearable, I would cry sometimes in distress. Then, I will actually go to the Emergency room and sit all night because I didn't understand the disease and what was going on with my body, sometimes I feel like I got hit by a truck. One time, I was feeling bad and went to the ER my kidneys were failing, scary. Another ER experience, my lungs were filled with pneumonia and I had a painful bladder syndrome. I became so paranoid that every pain or discomfort, I would rush to the ER.   I remember in my own mind in desperation, the ER doctor will have a magic pill to cure me. One day, an ER doctor said to me in a nice soft low tone," Ms. Gooding this is part of your disease", "I know you are scared but you have to be strong go through this illness." I walked out the ER and I sat in my car and cried; suddenly I felt a strong spirit of comfort while the spirit of hopelessness left. As I drove home, I came to an understanding that God never abandon me, He was there carrying me through this illness and "He" is the only true healer to cure me of this incurable disease.

The autoimmune disease I was diagnosed with is called Sjogren's Syndrome. It accompanies with rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus; this disease attacks the glands in the eyes and mouth. Symptoms such as chronic joint pain, stiffness, fatigue, and a dry cough. In addition, it can damage your thyroid, joints, kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin. Certain genes put people at higher risk of the disorder, but it appears that a triggering mechanism — such as infection with a particular virus or strain of bacteria — is also necessary. So to conduct research of this disease I wanted to know more about my current and past family history for genetic reasons.   The gender ratio, Sjogrens Syndrome nearly 14 women affected per one man,” the study included 7,748 women (93%) and 562 men (7%), with an average age of 53 at diagnosis. Ethnicity data were available for 7,884 (95%): 6,174 patients (78%) were white; 1,066 (14%), Asian; 393 (5%), Hispanic; 104 (1%), black/African-American; and 147 (2%) were of other ethnicity.  Systemic lupus erythematosus, which has been reported as being more frequent and having less favorable outcomes in non-white populations.

Lupus is more frequent and more severe with higher disease activity and more damage accrual in non-Caucasian populations (Hispanics, African descendants, and Asians) than in Caucasians. To overcome these differences it is necessary to optimize health care access to disadvantaged populations and use innovative tools to increase disease awareness and improve treatment adherence. Therefore by a racial/ethnic group, the percentages of patients with lupus or lupus nephritis were: black: 40 %; white: 38%; Hispanic: 15%; Asian: 5%; and Native American 2%. The annual death rate was highest among Native Americans, blacks, and whites, in that order.

Interstitial Cystitis disease is found 17 times more common in first-degree relatives (parent, sibling, or child) of patients with interstitial cystitis than in the general population. Furthermore, if one twin has interstitial cystitis, the disease is much more common in identical co-twins than fraternal co-twins. Of patients with interstitial cystitis, 94% are white and approximately 90% are female. ... There is significant overlap of symptoms of IC/BPS to symptoms of patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. This evidence suggests that, in some families, genes that make a person susceptible to interstitial cystitis are being passed from one generation to the next.


 I read that there are many possible causes of human disease, family history is often one of the strongest risk factors for common disease complexes such as cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, autoimmune disorders, and variety of illnesses. A person inherits a complete set of genes from each parent, as well as a vast array of cultural and socioeconomic experiences from his/her family. Family history is thought to be a good predictor of an individual’s disease risk because family members most closely represent the unique genomic and environmental interactions that an individual experiences (Kardia et al., 2003). For more than 100 years, human geneticists have been studying how variations in genes contribute to variations in disease risk. One approach is genetic epidemiology, including twin studies, provides robust evidence that genetic variation in human populations contributes to susceptibility to disease. Another approach focuses on identifying the individual genes with variations that give rise to simple Mendelian patterns of disease inheritance. The last approach is to seek to understand the genetic susceptibility to disease as the consequence of the joint effects of many genes. Diseases tend to run in some families suggests that there may be a genetic susceptibility to the disease. National Institutions of Health study genes that are found far more common in family members who have the disease than in those who do not have the disease. Studies of familial aggregation can, therefore, investigate the importance of shared determinants, both environmental and genetic, in disease susceptibility.

The results of my DNA exposes that I am  African (Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Togo, and Nigeria), Native Indian, it also identifies that I am 18% white from Europe (Iberian peninsula, Ireland, Great Britain Scandinavia, and Germany) and 1% Asian. (This doesn't' change the fact that I am and live as a proud black woman). I believed it is important for me to take this test to get familiar with my genetic history for health reasons.  



References:

 The Rheumatologist
http://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/location-ethnicity-affect-manifestations-primary-sjogrens-syndrome/
The Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation
http://www.the-rheumatologist.org/article/location-ethnicity-affect-manifestations-primary-sjogrens-syndrome/
Kardia SL, Modell SM, Peyser PA. Family-centered approaches to understanding and preventing coronary heart disease. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2003;24(2):143–151. 
Genetics of Interstitial Cystitis (magic)  https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00237081
Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment: Moving Beyond Nature/Nurture Debate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19932/
Ethnicity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): its influence on susceptibility and outcomes https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24097993