Heredity

Question

My grandparents had 6 children in total, 3 boys and 3 girls. All 3 girls died shortly after birth (max. 3 weeks). My grandmother cannot tell me how these children died, but ‘something was said about an enlarged pancreas’, and it was also said that it was only by chance that all 3 girls had died. At present, my father and my grandmother both have adult-onset diabetes. This disorder also has to do with the pancreas. That is why I wonder whether there was something genetic going on? I came across CF and I thought maybe these girls died from that disease; what do you think?

Answer

Dear questioner,
Understandably, you try to get more information about the death of 3 children of your grandparents. But in all honesty, with so few details about the problem, it is very difficult to conclude what the cause of death could have been. It is indeed not impossible that these girls died of cystic fibrosis although, there is, as you know, no increased risk for CF in girls compared to boys. They are other rare disorders of the pancreas that can cause serious problems from birth on. One of these is ‘nesidioblastosis’. Neodioblastosis is really an old disease for an inherited disorder of the pancreas where there is an increased production of insulin so that the child has severe problems with low blood glucose. It is difficult to diagnose the disease and it is difficult to treat it. But of course these 3 girls could have had other problems such as diseases of the immunity or rare metabolic disorders. Furthermore it is important to mention that adult-onset diabetes is not more frequent in family members of patients with CF. So you don’t need to try and find a link between the early deaths and the problem that your father and grandmother have at the present.
With kind regards.
K. De Boeck

03.06.2009