Is Keratoconus Hereditary?

Hereditary disease of the cornea

Keratoconus appears to be caused by both hereditary and non-hereditary factors. More and more research focuses on the hereditary cause. Due to hereditary load, the cornea would have been formed less firmly from birth. Why the keratoconus only manifests itself around puberty is still a mystery. Hereditary predisposition does not necessarily mean that all family members develop keratoconus. There is an increased risk of keratoconus. In children from the age of 10, be extra alert to frequent and hard rubbing in the eyes.

Congenital condition

A weakened cornea is hereditary, but this does not necessarily mean that keratoconus develops automatically. Research has shown that rubbing the eyes can stimulate the progression of keratoconus. It is not known whether eye rubbing can also be the cause of the development of keratoconus.

Abnormalities in the genes

Keratoconus is also more common in some syndromes:
Down syndrome, Turner, Ehlers-Danlos and Marfan are the best known examples.

Factors other than heredity

Heredity is most commonly identified as the cause of developing keratoconus. However, other factors than that keratoconus are hereditary are also regularly pointed out. It therefore also occurs in people without demonstrable hereditary predisposition.