Did your mother have diabetes? Did your father suffer from heart disease? Was there an aunt who was depressed? A brother who has cancer? You and your doctor need to know these things. We know that staying well involves more than just visits to the doctor’s office – it is important to truly understand their family health history.
Health care professionals have known for a long time that common diseases – heart disease, cancer, and diabetes – and even rare diseases – like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia – can run in families. If one generation of a family has high blood pressure, it is not unusual for the next generation to have similarly high blood pressure. Tracing the illnesses suffered by your parents, grandparents, and other blood relatives can help their doctor predict the disorders to which they may be at risk and take action to keep them and their family healthy.
- A detailed family medical history allows you and your doctors to:
- Observe patterns and identify conditions and risks before they affect you or your families.
- Prepare, plan or take steps to avoid these conditions.
- Decide what test may be needed to come to a diagnosis.
- Identify other family members who may be at risk and calculate their chance of passing certain diseases to their children.
Use a family gathering like Thanksgiving to interview family members about their health. Try to include information about as many generations as possible. Include half-brother and half-sisters since they too share some of your DNA. Talk about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. Try to get specific information: What kind of cancer? At what age was it diagnosed? Did the relative die? At what age?
Save a copy and give one to your doctor. Every Thanksgiving update the document as needed. It’s worth taking the time to learn more about your relatives’ health. As former U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona said: “The bottom line is that knowing your family history can save your life.”
