Hi Lisa, the simplest answer to your question is no, you cannot pass NF1 to your nieces or nephews. If your niece does have NF1 there are other reasons for that which are more complicated than I could explain here. I'm happy to discuss via email but I would also encourage your family to work with a genetic counselor who can take a complete family history and explain things more thoroughly. If you would like help locating someone near you please email me: kkelts@ctf.org Thank you for watching!

Hello Carly, thank you for your question. Because NF1 is an autosomal dominant condition the concept of being a "carrier" does not apply. I am sorry this language has been used with you. I'd be happy to discuss the potential impact of your diagnosis of NF1 on any future plans to start a family further, please email me directly at kkelts@ctf.org

Thanks for your question. Sometimes there are random errors in the genetic code. Nothing that anyone did or did not do (drinking, smoking, etc) can cause the change that leads to an NF diagnosis.

@@childrenstumor Thank you so much for your reply. However, just to make it clear, my question was if a mother was smoking during pregnancy especially in early phase of the embryo, (it is well know that substances in the sigaret are mutagenes) therefore it may cause a spontaneous mutation in the genes that develops the NF disease? Toxic Substances may interfere with the normal functioning of the genes correct? This is what i have found doing my researchs about cause of genetic mutations, so can you please clarify this point? Or are we defending the tabacco industry ? Why not reveling the truth… i really want to know because there must be something that causes the mutation! Thank you so much in advance!

@@ethiopiadinku9881 Research shows no correlation to anything a parent did before or after pregnancy that might cause NF. Here is a link that will take you to various publications about spontaneous mutations - I hope this helps: www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/spontaneous-mutation

@@childrenstumor Thanks for your reply however, i said that bad habits cause mutation depending on when and where it occurres as a result it will cause a genetic disorder, it can be NF or other types of disorder. for example if someone drinks alchol during pregnancy the baby will be born with fetal alcholic syndrome. I will put in brakets here what i have found from the article that you have sent me about spontaneous mutation! (Mutagenesis Spontaneous mutations occur because of chance errors (base changes) during replication, the occurrence of which is probably influenced by natural background ionizing radiation. Mutation frequency can be enhanced by treatment of virions or isolated viral nucleic acid with physical agents such as UV or X irradiation or with chemicals such as nitrous acid, hydroxylamine, ethylmethyl sulfonate, or nitrosoguanidine. Base analogs, such as 5-fluorouracil or 5-bromodeoxyuridine, are active only when virus is grown in their presence because they are mutagenic only when incorporated into the viral nucleic acid. Chemical mutagenesis is an important tool for laboratory studies in viral genetics, since the mutation rate is greatly increased, thereby making it possible to select mutants that would otherwise occur too rarely.) What do you think about it?