Preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening form of high blood pressure during pregnancy, can run in families, a new study shows.

If untreated, preeclampsia can damage the mother’s liver or kidneys, deprive the fetus of oxygen, and cause maternal seizures (eclampsia).

Sons and daughters born from preeclampsia pregnancies may carry genes related to the condition, according to the study, which appears in BMJ Online First.

The researchers who worked on the study included Rolv Skjaerven of the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, a branch of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Like Mother, Like Child

Preeclampsia happens during pregnancy, so men don’t experience it. But that doesn’t let them totally off the hook.

Men born from preeclampsia pregnancies are 50 percent more likely to father a preeclampsia pregnancy than other men, the study shows.