Genetic disorders are usually classified as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and sex related disorders. There are also multi-factor disorders (a mix between genetic and environmental factors).
Autosomal dominant disorders are caused by an abnormal gene in one of the parents’ autosomal chromosomes.
Huntington’s disease and familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are a couple of autosomal dominant inheritance afflictions.
Diseases caused by autosomal recessive disorders are caused by an abnormal gene in one of both parents’ autosomal chromosomes.
A few of these diseases are: phenylketonuria (PKU), cystic fibrosis (CF), hemochromatosis, leukodystrophy, and Tay-Sachs disease.
Gender linked disorders are inherited through the X or Y sex chromosomes.
One of the most well-known of these pathologies is hemophilia, a disease that consists on the inability of blood to coagulate due to the lack of a coagulating protein called antihemophilic globulin (coagulation factor). It causes internal and external hemorrhaging.
