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- Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions in your family. You and your family members share genes. You may also have behaviors in common, such as exercise habits and what you like to eat. You may live in the same area and come into contact with similar things in the environment.
www.cdc.gov › family-health-history › about
May 15, 2024 · If you have a family health history of a chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, you are more likely to get that disease yourself. Knowing your family health history risk can help you—if you act on it.
- About Family Health History | Family Health History | CDC
Family health history is a record of the diseases and health...
- Family Health History | Family Health History | CDC
Family health history can help your doctor decide what...
- About Family Health History | Family Health History | CDC
People also ask
What is a family health history?
What if you have a family health history of disease?
Do you know more about your family health history?
May 15, 2024 · Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions in your family. You and your family members share genes. You may also have behaviors in common, such as exercise habits and what you like to eat.
Family health history can help your doctor decide what screening tests you need and when.
- Overview
- Whose history do I need?
- How can I gather this information?
- How do I record the details?
- What should I do with this information?
- Is incomplete information still useful?
- What if I was adopted?
- What if I’m estranged from my family?
- What about genetic testing and genetic predisposition?
- Outlook
Why is it important to know my family history?
Family members share more than similar looks. You may recognize that you have your father’s curly hair or your mother’s button nose. But it’s not so easy to see that your great-grandmother passed along an increased risk for both breast and ovarian cancer.
That’s why discovering and knowing your family health history is important. Your medical history includes all the traits your family shares that you can’t see. These traits may increase your risk for many hereditary conditions and diseases, including:
•cancer
•diabetes
•asthma
The general rule for family health history is that more is better. First, you’ll want to focus on immediate family members who are related to you through blood. Start with your parents, siblings, and children.
If they’re still alive, grandparents are another great place to start. They may know partial histories of many members of your family.
You can also gather information from your aunts and uncles, and other blood relatives.
Once you move beyond this core circle of family, genetic makeups change so greatly that you may not be able to learn much about your own risk. Still, keep information handy for any family members you learn about during your search for medical history. It may be helpful down the road.
Talking about health may not come naturally to you or your family. You can start the conversation by letting your family members know why you want to gather health information. Also, let them know that you’re willing to share information with them, so that you can all have more complete health histories. It may be easier to start out by having one-...
Make sure you write down or electronically document the health information your relatives provide. You can use this form to record your family health history. Just fill out one form per family member. You can also fill out a form for yourself, and share that with your family members.
Once you’ve collected all this information, you need to store it somewhere safe. You can use your own personal computer, but safe digital storage options are also available. For example, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the surgeon general offer a web-based tool called Family Health Portrait. You can store, save, and share your family history using this tool. Look for other options, like ancestry websites and smartphone apps.
Knowing your own health history is important, but sharing it with your doctor may be more important. That’s because your doctor can help you interpret what it means for your current lifestyle, suggest prevention tips, and decide on screening or testing options for conditions you may be more at risk for developing.
The genes you’re born with can’t be changed or altered. If you know your family history, you’re one step ahead of the game. You can take the initiative to adopt healthier lifestyle habits. For example, you could decide to stop smoking or drinking alcohol, or to start exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight. These lifestyle changes may reduce your chances for developing hereditary conditions.
Even a family health history that’s incomplete is still useful to your doctor. Share any information you have with them.
For example, if you know that your sibling was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 35, your doctor may suspect a possible genetic issue. They may then decide it’s important that you have regular colon cancer screenings before the recommended age of 50. Your doctor may also suggest you undergo genetic counseling or testing to identify any genetic risks.
Environment plays an important part in your health history, and you can get the details for this from your adoptive family. Learning more about your birth family’s health history may require a large investment of time and energy.
Ask your adoptive parents if they have any information about your birth parents. It’s possible family health history information was shared during the adoption process. If not, ask the agency that arranged the adoption if they retained any personal health history information for your birth parents. Understand your state’s statutes before you begin requesting adoption history information.
If you’re estranged from only part of your family, you can try a few things to collect your family health history:
Talk to the family members you’re connected with. You may not need to reconnect with your whole family to collect your family health history.
Reach out via your doctor. Some medical offices may be able to send out questionnaires to family members asking for information in an official capacity. This may prompt people to respond.
Do some research. You may be able to discover the cause of death of your relatives from death certificates. Search online to find state-specific death records or check ancestry sites for this information. Obituaries, often available online or archived by public libraries, might also provide health information.
Certain ethnic backgrounds and races may be predisposed to conditions for which a genetic test is useful. For example, women of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry have an increased risk for breast cancer. A specific gene mutation is more common in these women than in other women. Genetic screening may help your doctor detect this gene mutation and prepare you for treatment options early.
Although genetic tests can help identify potential risks you may have inherited for a specific disease, they don’t guarantee that you’ll develop that disease. Results may show you have a predisposition to several conditions. While you may never actually develop any of these, you might feel the added anxiety isn’t worth the knowledge. Seriously consider the benefits and concerns you may have with knowing your genetic risk factors before you do any testing.
Knowing your health history helps you to be more proactive about your health. Share this information with your doctor so they can screen early for conditions you’re predisposed to and suggest lifestyle choices that can help reduce your risk.
Also talk to your doctor if you need more help figuring out how to uncover your health history or what questions you should ask.
- 6
- stepparents and stepsiblings
- Family members you don’t need to include
- adoptive parents and adoptive siblings
May 12, 2021 · A family health history is a record of health information about a person and his or her close relatives. A complete record includes information from three generations of relatives, including children, brothers and sisters, parents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents, and cousins.
Apr 25, 2020 · Discuss family health history at your next virtual family chat to know if you may have an increased health risk. Here's how to get started.
Jan 5, 2023 · Family Health History for Patients and Families. Find out how learning your family's health history can help you discover your genomic heritage and risks, and guide you in making healthy environment and lifestyle choices. My Family Health Portrait.
