The Genetic Alliance answers this question wonderfully by stating:
“Family health history is the story of diseases that run in your family. It is one part of the entire history of your family. Along with culture, values, environment, and behaviors, family health history influences the way you live your life. Learning about your family health history can help you make healthy choices: it is a cheap, easy way to improve your own health and the health of your family. Share the information you gather with your healthcare provider to further reduce your risk of disease and create a partnership around your health.”
Genetic Alliance
Therefore, it is very important to learn about and collect your family health history in order to help prevent some diseases and keep you healthy. Your whole family, including your children, can benefit from this knowledge and good practice.
Please see our family health history brochure
More information about family health history can be found at these links:
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Family health history is important for a variety of reasons. Family members share their genes, as well as their environment, lifestyles and habits. A family health history helps identify people at an increased risk for disease because it reflects both a person’s genes and other shared risk factors.
Family health history refers to health information about you and your close relatives. Family health history is one of the most important tools in determining risk factors for health problems like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.
A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting a disease.
The key features of a family health history that may increase risk are:
•Diseases that occur at an earlier age than expected (10-20 years before most people get the disease)
•Disease in more than one close relative
•Disease that does not usually affect a certain gender (for example, breast cancer in a male relative)
•Certain combinations of diseases within a family (for example, breast and ovarian cancer or heart disease and diabetes)
*If your family has one or more of these features, your family history may hold important clues about your risk for disease
More information on the importance of family health history can be found at this link:
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To learn about your family health history, you can ask questions, talk at family gatherings, draw a family tree, and record health information. If possible, look at death certificates and family medical records. Some conditions to record are: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and any other condition that seems to run in the family.
When looking over your family’s health history, remember to ask family members about current or past diseases, as well as deaths. Try to find medical records or other documents that can help you gather complete information.
It is easy for anyone to create his or her own family history “portrait” by using computerized tools such as:
My Family Health Portrait
Family History: Resources and Tools
It is up to you to take action and create your own family health record. Early detection of any condition that might affect you or your family’s health should be shared with your doctor. Your doctor will appreciate this effort to improve your own health, as well as that of your entire family.
• First, write down the information you collect about your family history and share it with your doctor.
• Second, remember to keep your information updated and share it with your brothers and sisters.
• Third, pass it on to your children, so that they too will have a family history record.
• Your doctor should assess your risk of disease based on your family history and other risk factors. Your doctor also may recommend some activities you can do to help prevent disease, such as exercising more, changing your diet, or getting genetic screening tests to detect disease.
More information about how to create your own family history can be found at these links:
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