Many Parents of Bedwetters Were
Bedwetters -The Genetic Link
It has been well documented that there is a greater incidence of
primary nocturnal enuresis(bedwetting) in children whose parents
were enuretic when compared to families with no parental history(17,18).
In fact, heredity as a causative factor of primary nocturnal enuresis
has been confirmed by the identification of a gene marker. Studies
suggest the existence of a dominant gene located on chromosome 13
and another gene on chromosome 12. In most studies, the father was
more often affected than the mother, which is consistent with the
fact that nocturnal enuresis is more common in boys than girls.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has an
interesting site that identifies several genetic
studies and provides an actual gene map showing the locus of the gene on chromosome 13.
