Spotty Pattern of CAE

CAE runs in families

About 30% of all children with CAE come from families that have a history of similar seizures.

Brothers and sisters of a child with CAE have a 10% chance of developing epilepsy.

The pattern of seizures in families is spotty

Spotty Pattern

Such spotty patterns might indicate that several factors are involved in CAE. It is likely that an individual must possess many genes to inherit the disease.

Unaffected relatives of people with CAE could either have none of the genes, or some (but not all) of them.

Sorting out how many and which of these genes healthy relatives possess can be a very difficult process.

The Challenge

We are not alone in meeting this challenge. Other colleagues of ours studying similar diseases are facing the same challenge. However, together we will work hard to overcome these hurdles.

We realize that understanding the cause of common diseases like epilepsy, heart disease or asthma could make a difference in the lives of many thousands of people.

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