Mapping Your Health: The Power of Family History
Your family’s health history is like a roadmap to understanding your own potential health risks. It includes medical information about you and your relatives, such as parents, siblings, grandparents, and cousins. This history often spans three generations and can help identify patterns of genetic conditions and shared lifestyle factors that affect your health.
Families share more than just genes; they also share environments and habits. This means if heart disease, diabetes, or cancer run in your family, you could be at a higher risk. Recognizing these patterns allows healthcare providers to make informed decisions about your health and suggest preventive actions.
How Family History Shapes Your Health
Certain conditions are influenced by genetics, like heart disease and high blood pressure. Family history can also point to the risk of rarer genetic conditions, such as sickle cell disease or cystic fibrosis. Keep in mind that just because a relative has a certain condition doesn’t guarantee you will develop it, and having no family history of a condition doesn’t mean you’re risk-free.
Here are some common conditions that tend to run in families:
- Dementia
- Certain types of cancer
- High cholesterol
- Obesity
- Asthma
- Blood clots
- Arthritis
- Kidney disease
- Depression
- Stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
Knowing your family health history allows you to take proactive steps to reduce health risks. For example, if you have a family history of cancer, your doctor might recommend earlier or more frequent screenings like mammograms or colonoscopies. Additionally, lifestyle changes, such as maintaining a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and avoiding smoking, can help lower the chances of developing conditions like heart disease.
Gathering Family Health Information
The best way to start gathering your family’s health history is by asking relatives about their health conditions. Ask about any significant illnesses, when they began, and if there have been any early deaths in the family. If you were adopted, check with the adoption agency, which may have your medical history on file.
If you cannot ask family members directly for their history, try searching for information from public records, like birth certificates, marriage licenses, and obituaries. Old letters, family trees, or even family members’ electronic health records can also provide clues.
Once you have a complete record, share it with your healthcare provider to guide your care.
Online Tools for Tracking Your Family Health
The U.S. Surgeon General offers an online tool called My Family Health Portrait, which helps you create a family health history that you can share with both relatives and your doctor. This resource can make it easier to track and update your medical history over time.
Looking for an easy way to record your family health history?
Click here to download a free family history worksheet from the Trust.
Knowing your family health history empowers you to take control of your health by identifying risks and adopting preventive measures for a healthier future.