This is Becky and I am Caucasian. For a while my brother was having migraines and since I am a MM they checked him for MM by doing the angio and For Now the test came back Negitive. But they are keeping an eye on his condition to see if it might develop over time like mine. My first and only stroke was when I was 22. Since then I had the STA-MCA done and things are fine. When I go to have kids I will have them checked for it to see if I have passed it on to them.

Good luck. I hope you get the results you are looking for.

Hello;
  I'm 33 years old and have MM I was diagnosed first. My mother is 53 and was diagnosed a few months after me.            Lena

Brian is our only child with MM. 2 of our other children have been tested as they have all had migraines. Brian's baby will be tested when she is 4. We are caucasian.

........Kathy

Hi Nancy,
I am caucasian and am the only one in my family with MM, however my mom died of a stroke in1991 and I now believe that she possibly had MM as she suffered from neuralgia and headaches for quite a few years. I also have an older sister who has MS, but both my 2 kids are fine and I have just been advised by my neurosurgeon to keep an eye out for symptoms  with them in the future, and if necessary I will get them tested
Moira

Nancy, I'm glad you asked,it will be interesting to read the responses to this.
  My daughter Kathleen is 8 she was diagnosed 3 yrs ago with mm.To my knowledge she's the only one in my family with this diagnosis. I'de like to add though that my family history includes a lot of neurovascular problems.My dad's, dad died of a stroke at a fairly young age,My dad died from a Circle of Willis aneurism that ruptured,(this type of aneurism is heredity),My sister was operated on for the same type of aneurism(it was clipped).We have a very strong history of Migraines.My dads mom for as long as I could remmeber suffered from Migrains and what they then called "spells" dizzy and dissoriented.She died very old but also had a Circle of Willis aneurism.I'm probably one of only 2 of my 6 siblings who does not have migrains.Even a few of my cousins(on my dads side) have migraines.Also his 2 sisters.Just a coincidence??? I'm not so sure.....
Mary Grace

White people

Interesting topic!

I was surprised how many Caucasians I saw when I first found this website.  I am half Caucasian and half Korean.  I don’t really no my mom’s side of the family (Korean side) and since I was just diagnosed last month my other side of the family has not been checked yet.  But as far as I know, there have been no strokes on either side. 

Monica

Hi again!
I remember when I was in California for my surgeries I was being interviewed by the head of the Stanford Media/Publication Department.  We, my family, the interviewer (who is very well-researched on MM), and I were discussing the published facts on MM.  She explained that the thought that it is mostly an Asian disease is being greatly questioned.  She said that most publications readily available on the web are outdated and still define MM as a disease that primarily effect young, Asian females. She said that this assumption, MM is an Asian disease, may be b/c Asia/Japan to be exact has done the a lot of the research on the disease.  My family and I found this to be very interesting and I strongly agree that the number 1 out of 2 million is a joke! 

Just to add an interesting note, the interviewer was also the pertson who helped write and get that fantastic article about MM in the NY Times!   

Take care, ;
Stephanie

Don't know if it is hereditary.....both my mom and dad are fine....the only reason that my doctor went looking past the "its only stress or headaches" is due to the fact that my paternal grandfather died of a stoke/anurism at the young age of 37. Luckily for me, Dr. Dennis studied at Columbia and new enough about MM symptions to recommend the MRI/MRA and EEG.... I guess I am extememly lucky that he opted to not ay attention to my previous studies (I was hospitalized about 2.5 years ago for the same symptoms, MRI came back clean....diagnosis with pacnic attacks and sent home on a couple of "mood adjusters". Thank you again Dr. D.

Greg

This is Becky,

My first nurologest said it was Impossible a White person could have MM bueacus it is Only found in Japan. I said okay let me have a second opinon. She sent me to the Mayo clinic and They said my First nurologets needed to open her mind to the possibilites that the Japanes discovered it and they have tested for it more offten to figere out why so many of their young one have had a strokes and stuff. Not to base things soley on a person heritage. 

A very recent extract from MedLine:

Childs Nerv Syst. 2005 Sep 30; [Epub ahead of print] Related Articles, Links 

Clinical features of familial moyamoya disease.

Nanba R, Kuroda S, Tada M, Ishikawa T, Houkin K, Iwasaki Y.

Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan, skuroda@med.hokudai.ac.jp.

OBJECTS: This study aims to clarify the genetic background of moyamoya disease by comparing clinical features between familial and sporadic cases to reveal the responsible genes for familial moyamoya disease. METHODS: This study included 155 Japanese patients with moyamoya disease, which included 24 familial cases (10 family pedigrees) and 131 sporadic cases. Clinical features were compared between the familial and sporadic cases. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A female preponderance was significantly more prominent in the familial than in the sporadic group (P=0.0421). Mean age at onset was significantly lower in familial than in sporadic cases (P=0.004). In eight parent-offspring pairs, mean age at onset was significantly lower in the second than in the first generation (P<0.0001). These results suggest that familial moyamoya disease is associated with genetic anticipation and female predominance and that a genetic analysis study focused on expanded triplet repeats may clarify the pathogenesis of the disease.

i am caucasian i have 4 children 2 of which are twins and 3 of my childen have moyamoya 1 of the twins does not have myamoya Dr, Scott seems to think there may be a gene for it they have been{Dr, Scott's team] has been taking blood samples from everyone in my family but we are the first to have any signs of moyamoya

  i am not sure its just a study its not just blood work on me and the kids its everyone on my side of the family caUSE MY OLDEST DAUGHTER HAS A DIFFERENT FATHER FROM YHE OTHER TFREE SO THAT GAVE DR. SCOTT THE IDEA IT HAS TO BE FROM MY SIDE OF THE FAMILY BUT LIKE I SAID NOONE HAS EVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS BEFORE UNTIL I HAD MY CHILDREN I HAD A COUSIN TO DIE OF AN ANURISIUM AT THE AGE OF 7 BUT HERS WAS SUDDEN NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER TO EVEN SUPPECT SHE HAD ANY MEDICAL PROBLEMS BUT DR. SCOTT SEEMS TO DISAGREE HE THINKS THAT SHE MAY HAVE HAD MOYAMOYA AND WAS MISS DISGNOSED SO I AM NOT SURE WE ARE HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING EVERYONE IN THE FAMILY TO DO THIS