The Importance of Knowing Your Family History

You have your grandfather’s eyes, your mother’s nose, and your father’s ears; you make the same delicious turkey stuffing as your grandmother; and Aunt Mildred has bequeathed you her favorite heirloom tablecloth. Looks and traditions aren’t the only things that you share in common with your family members. You also share the same genes, which play a key role in screening for, preventing, and decreasing your risk of certain diseases.

Some diseases run in families. Examples include heart disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure, as well as those that involve gene mutation such as hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia. Knowing your family medical history will not only help your doctor screen appropriately for early detection and treatment of many diseases, but will help you to prevent disease as well. Family medical history provides your doctor with important clues to your health, both for you and your children.

A complete family medical history includes medical information from three generations: Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, children, nieces and nephews. Beginning in 2004 the U.S. Surgeon General declared Thanksgiving to be National Family History Day and encourages families to take some time together to share and record health problems that run in the family. But that doesn’t mean you have to wait until Turkey day to get started. Check out this site to download a free tool for recording your complete family medical history.

The next time you gather as a family, remember to gather some information that can help to prevent and detect disease in your family. You can be your doctor’s number one sleuth as you work together to uncover the clues to the health and longevity of you and your family. Having this conversation not only helps your future health, but it gives you a great reason to catch up with your relatives.

Once you know more about your family’s medical history, you should put it to use when visiting the doctor. Having this information readily at hand can help them in diagnosing all kinds of issues. With your information and our advanced diagnostic equipment the physicians here at University Hospital and Medical Center in Tamarac can get to the bottom of any medical issue you may be having.

Sources:

Genetics Home Reference (National Institute of Health)

Surgeon General’s New Family Health History Tool is Released (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Length:

392 words

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