Hereditary Neurologic Diseases - From Clinical Signs to DNA Tests

Hereditary neurologic diseases - from clinical signs to DNA tests

Syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, degenerative myelopathy in the German Shepherd Dog and intervertebral disc hernias in the Dachshund are examples of hereditary neurological disorder that most veterinarians know and recognize. but these are only a few of the numerous hereditary neurological disorders commonly seen in our companion animals.

In any disease that is breed-associated with a proven high incidence rate in comparison with other breeds – we can suspected that there is a genetic basis. Genetic similarity within a breed is mainly based on multiple common ancestries, which increases the chances of distributing/keeping a potential genetic anomaly within the breed. Most of the hereditary disorders will cause clinical signs early on in life but a number of hereditary, degenerative neurological disorders will only cause signs of the disease later on in life, which is often a cause for confusion among veterinary students. To better understand this it may help to divide hereditary neurological disorders into different sub categories (see table below). […]