Some people like to keep a record of how their grandparents met or what life was like for their ancestors when they arrived on Ellis Island. Those types of family records are great—but the more important record you should be keeping is your family health history.
If you aren’t already keeping up with this trend, you should know that most health care experts—including those with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the National Institutes of Health—encourage it.
A family health history is exactly what it sounds like: a history of all diseases and conditions observed in your immediate and extended family. Back in 2004, the Department of Health and Human Services, along with Dr. Richard Carmona, then the surgeon general, launched the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative, which encourages all Americans to learn about any conditions that run in their family. That includes not only chronic conditions (like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes) but also details such as the age of diagnosis, cause of death, lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, smoking, and drinking), and environmental factors (for example, living in a community with bad air quality).
The idea is that when you’re able to look at all of this information in front of you, and you can share it with your doctor, you have a better idea of your risk, what precautions you should take, and what screenings you should get regularly. You’ll also know which precautions or screenings might not be as high a priority because your risk of certain conditions is lower.
For example, if you see that every man in your family has died around age 60, you might be a little bit worried—and rightfully so. If you’re able to look at the specific cause of death, you might notice that, in each case, it’s related to heart health in some way. This will indicate to your doctor that you should be screened for heart disease on a regular basis. Your doctor might also instruct you to take up a consistent exercise routine, avoid fried foods, and start taking cholesterol medication. This way, you aren’t resigned to the same fate as some of your family members, and you can be proactive about changing your health.
With the holiday season coming up in the next few months, now might be an ideal time to discuss compiling a family health history with not only your immediate family, but also your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives. Discuss the idea over Thanksgiving dinner or a Christmas party, and then create a document on a digital sharing platform (such as Google Docs or Dropbox) where everyone can review, edit, and add.
If possible, consider where you’ve seen these conditions in your family:
Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, Heart disease, Blindness/vision loss or deafness/hearing loss, High blood pressure or high cholesterol, Schizophrenia, Diabetes, Substance abuse (such as alcoholism), Pregnancy complications
You should also take into account these lifestyle choices:
How much each relative exercises, Which relatives smoke, Which relatives consume alcohol and how much, What kind of diet each relative follows, Any high-risk jobs that your relatives work
Some of your relatives might not want to share their medical history, and that’s all right; respect their privacy and gather what information they are willing to give. Once you have all the information you need, take it to your doctor for discussion.
Remember, noticing a pattern isn’t a cause for concern. All it means is that you now have a chance to work toward prevention.
Once you have a thorough family health history, be sure to maintain it in the years to come so it can be used by your kids and grandkids who might have questions of their own.
You can also compile everything online by using the surgeon general’s tool, My Family Health Portrait, which is available for free at phgkb.cdc.gov/FHH or by going to www.cdc.gov and searching “family health history.”
