Is Uncombable hair syndrome inherited ?
Is uncombable hair syndrome inherited? Uncombable hair syndrome (UHS) is thought to be inherited in an autosomal dominant manner with reduced penetrance. Autosomal dominant means that having a change (mutation) in only one copy of the responsible gene in each cell is enough to cause features of the condition. When a person with a mutation that causes an autosomal dominant condition has children, each child has a 50% (1 in 2) chance to inherit that mutation. Reduced penetrance means that not all people with a mutation in the responsible gene will have the condition. For this reason, conditions with reduced penetrance may appear to "skip a generation" or may appear to occur for the first time (or only once) in a family. While people with UHS often report a negative family history, the characteristic hair shaft abnormality seen in affected people can still be seen in unaffected family members by looking at their hair under a specific type of microscope.