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HEALTH HISTORY: ; Knowing Your Family's Medical History Could Be a Life-Saving Lesson

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 January 2005, 00:00 CST

Your familys medical history may not be the cheeriest topic to bring up at the next family gathering, but it could save your life. Genes play a role in the transmission of some diseases, so you and your relatives may be at risk of developing medical conditions that have affected other family members. Your doctor might be able to help you catch these conditions early, or even help prevent them but only if you know youre at risk. Family events like reunions and celebrations can be a good time to gather information from relatives. Use a family health history tree like the one provided to record what you learn. You can share the information with your relatives, so they can create their own tree. Create a family health tree All families are different, but you can use a family tree as a guide to help you organize information about diseases and conditions that affect your family. 1. Write down your relatives names and relationships to you. Also record their gender and ancestry; some diseases are more common in people of a certain gender or ethnic group. Be sure to list any twins and if you can, identify them as identical or fraternal. Note half brothers and half sisters, and write down whether they had a different father or mother. 2. Talk to relatives about their medical histories. Ask if they have experienced chronic illness, such as diabetes or heart disease; pregnancy complications, such as miscarriage; or developmental disabilities. If you can, record the formal name of medical conditions and the approximate age at diagnosis. 3. Note deceased relatives and the age at which they died. Get their medical histories from other relatives or written records, if possible. 4. Show your family medical history to your doctor and make a copy for your records. Be sure to keep it up to date. Why should you know your familys medical history? Most research has linked the likelihood of developing a disease with the diagnosis of an immediate family member a parent, sibling or child but doctors sometimes use the diagnosis of a more distant blood relative to calculate risk as well

. Providing your doctor with your medical history can help you find out how great your disease risk really is and what you should do about it. Here are some common diseases that are directly related to your family health history: * BREAST CANCER Risk: A woman with a mother, sister or daughter with breast cancer is two to three times more likely to develop the disease than someone with no family history of breast cancer. A woman with more than one immediate family member with the disease has at least four times the average risk. The younger a womans relatives were at diagnosis, the greater her risk. * TYPE-2 DIABETES Risk: An individual whose parent was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes before age 50 has a one in seven chance of getting the disease. If both parents have the disease, the risk increases to one in two. * HEART DISEASE Risk: One study showed that a woman whose identical twin had died of coronary heart disease before age 65 would be six to seven times as likely to die from it herself as a non-identical twin would be. Male identical twins had about three times the risk. Family history of other diseases, including diabetes, can also increase the risk of heart disease. * Family health history is connected to other common conditions including colon cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, Alzheimers disease, depression, alcoholism and some birth defects and hearing or vision loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Family history can also indicate how useful certain drugs will be to a person and what side effects they may have. Getting family members to talk about their history Some families and cultures guard personal information closely, which can make assembling a family medical history difficult. If your relatives are reluctant to talk about their health, Mayo Clinic staff members offer advice on encouraging them to open up. Explain yourself: Describe the benefits of compiling a family medical history and explain who will get the information. You may offer to share the information you collect with other family members so they can share it with their doctors. Start easy: First ask about the whole family, only gradually working toward more personal questions. Try to get your relative to volunteer information, asking direct questions only when necessary. Listen: Do not interrupt your relatives when they talk about their health problems. Do not offer judgment or comments. Give options: While some relatives might want to discuss personal matters face-to-face, others might feel more comfortable talking on the phone or via e-mail. Respect privacy: Do not pressure relatives to share information. If a relative does not want you to share information, respect these wishes. What if Im adopted? If you are adopted, you may still be able to get some information about your medical history through adoption agency records or your adopted parents, the National Society of Genetic Counselors advises. Even your ethnic and racial background might be useful to your doctor. For example, Ashkenazi Jews (Jews with an Eastern European background) are at a higher risk for certain cancers than the general population. Understanding your family medical tree Your disease risk might not increase if only one of your grandparents or cousins has been diagnosed with a certain condition. However, diseases that appear in closer relatives or in certain combinations might be a greater cause for concern. A doctor is best qualified to determine your personal disease risk, but the Mayo Clinic offers some signs that often point to higher-than- average risk for certain conditions: * More than one close relative has been diagnosed with the same disorder. * A relative has developed a disease at least 10 years earlier than average. * Disease appears in a gender it usually does not; for example, a male relative gets breast cancer. * Certain combinations of diseases appear in your family. Examples include both breast and ovarian cancer, or both heart disease and diabetes. The smaller your family is, the more difficult it will be to identify health patterns in your family. Sources: Source: The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; American Cancer Society; American Diabetes Association; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; American Heart Association; New England Journal of Medicine; U.S. Department of Health and H

Source: Charleston Gazette, The

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