Is Dyslexia Hereditary?

People with dyslexia are thought to be at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. That's why it's important to know that this problem can be passed down from generation to generation; it has a negative impact on how well the nervous system functions. 

Dyslexic children often have relatives who also struggle with reading and writing. Another common occurrence has two or more offspring in a household who both suffer from the same learning problem.

It may be difficult to determine whether or not an elderly relative has dyslexia if he or she left school before the issue was recognised. Someone in your family may have been dyslexic if they "hated school," "dropped out," or graduated early to join the military or the workforce. They might have found school to be a very discouraging and unsatisfying experience had they not gotten the support they needed.

Unfortunately, bad readers at a young age frequently continue to be poor readers as adults if they do not receive the necessary assistance at a young age. The good news is that children with dyslexia who receive appropriate training, especially in the early grades, are more likely to have fewer or milder challenges as they progress through school and into adulthood.

Young children with dyslexia need a systematic, persistent early education programme to help them learn to form the linkages among letters and the sounds they make in order to become successful readers.

Does My Dyslexia Have A Chance Of Being Passed On To My Child?

Despite the fact that dyslexia has been shown to have a strong genetic component, it is impossible to predict which children would be affected by the disorder. Dyslexia is like any other mental ability or talent; it can run in families but isn't caused by genes alone (or weakness). The propensity to develop dyslexia is not necessarily passed down from parents to their offspring. Although the child may have a genetic predisposition towards dyslexia, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily develop the condition.

Studies of identical twins have shown that, depending on the kind of dyslexia, there is a 55-70% chance that the other twin will also have the disorder. This study demonstrates that while genes play a significant role, environmental and experiential factors are also important in symptom onset and maintenance.

It is more likely that a number of genes work together to cause dyslexia. Moreover, the features' manifestation may vary from one individual to the next due to the presence of mediating or boosting genes.

That's why it's highly improbable that a genetic test for dyslexia will ever be developed. A person's genetic makeup can only go so far in revealing whether or not they are predisposed to dyslexia.

Let's assume, nevertheless, that dyslexia runs in the family. Especially if the child appears to be struggling or becoming frustrated in the early grades, this is important information to bear in mind while making educational decisions.

The cause of dyslexia is likely to have strong genetic components. This is because dyslexia has been shown to have a strong genetic component.

But it's not entirely hereditary. If dyslexia were entirely hereditary, the disorder would be uniformly shared by identical twins because of their shared DNA. Both of them usually suffer from the illness, however this is not always the case.

An individual "dyslexia gene" does not exist. Over 40 genes have already been implicated in dyslexia. Each individual gene probably doesn't do much on its own. There is no such thing as a "dominant" or "recessive" gene in such a genetically complex illness.

Many distinct functions are carried out by the dyslexia-linked genes. The connectivity of brain cells is influenced by many of these genes. The construction of cells and their interactions with one another are both influenced by other genes.

Despite our advances, much more study is needed to determine whether or not dyslexia is caused by genetic mutations.

Is It Possible That Your Kid Will Have Dyslexia If It Runs in Your Family?

Researchers in the field of "learning disorders" generally agree that neurological or genetic factors are to blame for dyslexia. Some scientists believe a neurological disorder is the result of physical trauma to the brain before, around, or after birth. However, there are many who believe that this neurological disorder is inherited from one generation to the next due to a flaw in the family's genetic makeup. They base their argument on research showing that learning problems tend to run in families. For instance, research by Dr. Beve Hornsby discovered that 88 percent of those with dyslexia also had a close relative with the same condition.

An American study found that if either parent had reading difficulties, their offspring were four to thirteen times more likely to do so. Numerous investigations have verified the "family history" hypothesis that dyslexia tends to occur.

Never overlook the simple fact that statistics are sometimes no more than circumstantial evidence. It is always necessary to make sense of circumstantial evidence. It's unfortunate that it's open to multiple interpretations.

The role of the environment

Perhaps it would be instructive to provide an illustration of why it is often incorrect to draw conclusions based solely on statistical analysis. Ingestion of the water caused discoloration of the anterior teeth. If this were to happen, everyone in the family, including the parents and any young children, would have discoloured front teeth unless they wore dentures. There has to be a perfect match. However, as has already been established, the discoloration of the teeth was not caused by heredity, but rather by the circumstances under which the family lived and the conditions which they shared, i.e. the fact that they all drank the same water.

It's not necessarily genetics that causes learning difficulties to run in families. However, the fact that relatives live in close quarters together may play a role.

However, it will remain impossible to assess the relative impact of genetics and environment. As an illustration, consider Mozart. He was unquestionably a superb musician. His entire family was musically talented, so he was surrounded by music from the time he was born. Imagine if he had been raised by a family who didn't listen to music. If that happened, would we have heard of Mozart? The likelihood of this happening is slim.

Brilliant work by the late Japanese musician Shinichi Suzuki demonstrates that exposure to music can help nurture latent musical ability. Suzuki taught thousands of violinists, many of whom performed in performances of over two hours, playing the likes of Mozart, Beethoven, and Liszt at an early age. He began encouraging these upcoming violinists even before they were born. His studies led him to the conclusion that a kid grows up to be what he or she is taught.

Does it make a bigger difference if mum or dad are dyslexic?

No. Most dyslexia-related genes are located on the X chromosome, thus dyslexia is more commonly diagnosed in males7,8. There is no evidence to suggest that dyslexia is inherited more frequently from one parent than the other.

We also know that, as you pointed out, genes aren't the only element contributing to dyslexia. 

Is there any link between pregnancy complications and dyslexia?

No one can tell us anything. Reading skills, as well as memory and intelligence, could be negatively impacted by maternal stress. But few studies have focused on dyslexia in particular.

It is possible that additional health factors, such as maternal smoking, low birth weight, and old age, may play a role in the development of dyslexia in a child.

Therefore, stress may also play a role, but this is speculative. Just like genes, it's likely that the individual effects of many diverse factors on health are rather minor.

Is it possible that omega-3 fatty acids could reduce the incidence of dyslexia?

No, we have no idea either. Nonetheless, many researchers have sought answers to this question.

Some children with dyslexia showed symptoms of a deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids, and this piqued the curiosity of scientists.

So, they looked into whether or not supplementing dyslexic kids with omega-3 fatty acids will help them catch up in school.

Multiple studies have shown that giving children with dyslexia omega-3 fatty acid supplementation can help them read better (or have related conditions, like ADHD). It all comes down to the specific supplements utilised, though, as even the largest differences are sometimes quite negligible.

However, contrary evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids do not influence literacy or education. Researchers have found mixed results when testing the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids in treating dyslexia, and most believe that more studies are needed.

Multiple studies have shown that giving children with dyslexia omega-3 fatty acid supplementation can help them read better (or have related conditions, like ADHD). It all comes down to the specific supplements utilised, though, as even the largest differences are sometimes quite negligible.

However, contrary evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids do not influence literacy or education. Researchers have found mixed results when testing the effectiveness of omega-3 fatty acids in treating dyslexia, and most believe that more studies are needed.

However, omega-3 fatty acids may potentially have an effect on DNA. They don't alter the genetic code itself, but they can modulate how strongly certain genes are activated. More research is needed to determine whether or whether these modifications can influence brain function.

There Is More to Understand About Dyslexia 

Our behaviour, intelligence, personality traits, propensity to develop an illness, and brain structure are all influenced by a confluence of factors, including genetics and the environment (both predetermined and random). There is a large variety of potential external variables. Prenatal hormone exposure, nutrition, toxicant exposure, infection, trauma, parental care, home environment, peer connections, schooling, and culture are just few of the many potential contributors. Academic success and learning disorders (e.g., dyslexia) may be moderated in part by what psychologists call "internal environmental factors" (e.g., motivation, anxiety, depression).

The Role of Genetics 

It has been known since the days of the earliest researchers that dyslexia has a strong genetic component; twin and other large-family studies have provided further confirmation of this. Approximately 50% of dyslexia can be traced back to genetic factors. "approximately half of the variability in dyslexic features seen in the general population could be attributed to genetic variance," the authors write. Dyslexia is a complex disorder to study genetically because its mechanism of inheritance is unknown and because it has characteristics with other disorders that are described by behaviour. As we saw in Section 1, the most glaring of them is the challenge of settling on a workable definition of dyslexia. Another dilemma is when people who have a genetic propensity for dyslexia do not actually develop the disorder, or when those who do not have that predisposition nevertheless have symptoms that are similar to those of dyslexia. Further, different persons may have different genes that 'cause' the same illness. Heritability estimates may be inaccurate because of all these confounding variables. Most likely, dyslexia is caused by a number of distinct genes working together.

Why can't there be a "gene for dyslexia?"

Reading is a relatively recent development in human history. The need for educated citizens is very new, having emerged just in the previous century, and is currently limited to so-called "developed" nations. Therefore, we can be sure that no specialised brain mechanism could have evolved to process written language. Reading proficiently is also a very difficult task because it involves a wide variety of skills and the synchronisation of multiple areas of the mind. Possible candidate genes include those related to human vision and cross-modal integration as well as the general structures required for language acquisition. Given the diversity of underlying processes, it stands to reason that the heritability of reading skills (if at all) will be governed by the interplay of a large number of genes. A genetic propensity towards reading difficulties is the most that can be said to be inherited. However, much more information on the actual brain mechanisms involved in such challenges is required before we can go more into this.