Do you know your family history? For many people, family history means the listing of who was married to whom, and what famous people your family might have been related to from the past. But there is another kind of family history that everyone should be aware of — your family health history.
Websites like Ancestry.com have become popular ways for people to get in touch with their roots and dig out hidden secrets from their family’s past. But those kinds of websites are not likely to provide the kind of information that could be crucial in making the best decisions about your health care.
Your family health history is a road map of medical experiences, conditions and diagnoses within your family that could impact your personal risk for serious diseases. Family health history is important because research has shown that some diseases run in families because of genetics.
Your personal genes are a combination of genetic material called DNA that you received from your biological father and mother. Each of them received genes from their parents. So you are physically connected to generations of your blood relatives through your genes.
The characteristics of your body are controlled by your genes. Genes determine visible traits like hair and eye color, and also influence internal health, such as your overall risk for health conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Other serious conditions that can be affected by your family’s health history include heart disease, stroke, certain types of cancer and diabetes. Rare conditions that are caused by a genetic mutation such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis can also run in a family.
It is important to recognize that just because a disease is present in your family does not mean you are definitely going to get it. Some conditions seem to skip a generation, or may affect only some members of the family.
Some conditions are more common in either women or men. In those situations, for example, a man in the family may not get the disease but he could pass on the risk factor to his daughter.
You can help your doctor assess your risk for serious medical conditions by learning all you can about your family’s health history. Important information you should try to learn includes how old your family member was when he or she was diagnosed with a serious illness, and the age and cause of death for any family members who have passed away.
Ideally, your family health tree should go back at least three generations, and should include all close family members. That means people who are related by blood, including your brothers and sisters, your father and mother, your parents’ brothers and sisters, and your grandparents and their brothers and sisters.
People who married into the family, but who do not share a direct blood line with you, such as your sister-in-law or your mother’s brother-in-law, should not be included in your personal health history.
Your family health history is an important tool that can help your doctor provide the best possible care for you and for your children. For example, if you have a history of certain types of cancer, your doctor may decide to schedule routine testing more often than is typical to ensure early detection if cancer develops. Or if you have a history of diabetes, your doctor may be more alert to changes in your health that could be a sign of prediabetes.
To emphasize the importance of knowing your family health history, the U.S. Surgeon General has declared Thanksgiving to be National Family History Day every year since 2004. Take this opportunity when you are gathered together with your family to talk about your family’s health history.
The Surgeon General’s office also provides an online tool called My Family Health Portrait to help you compile your family’s health history.
Spending time with your family talking about this important subject may help ensure that you can all have many more family celebrations together in the years to come.
If you have questions about your family’s health history, or about your risks for developing any condition that may run in your family, talk to your health care provider.
Sources:
Genetics Home Reference. Why is it important to know my family medical history? Web. October 28, 2015.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/inheritance/familyhistory
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Surgeon General’s Family Health History Initiative. Web. October 28, 2015.
http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Family Health History. Web. October 28, 2015.
http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/famhistory
Reviewed November 2, 2015
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith