Q: Our family has a genetic problem of kidney cysts. My father died of the same; his mother was having that problem. Four out of 7 of my uncles and aunts have died of the same disease after the age of 45. Now my sister is having the same problem. Is there anyway to avoid the disease?

A:You have polysystic disease of the kidneys running in your family. It sounds as if you have married cousins within your own family as is common in India especially in the South. The recessive genes express themselves more when you do that. You should all have ultrasound of the kidneys and know early who among you is getting the disease. If you are well looked after by a Nephrologist you can carry on for a long time but ultimately you will have to have a kidney transplant, when the kidneys with cysts progresses and goes into end stage renal failure. All your relatives have probably died of at end stage renal failure, they should all have been advised renal transplant. There is no need to die from it. We always advise such families not to have children, instead to adopt one.