Put the Family Back in Family Health History: a Multiple-informant Approach

Has your mother or sister had breast cancer? Does your mother, male parent, sister, or brother have diabetes? Did your mother, father, brother, or sister have colorectal (colon) cancer earlier age fifty? If you lot answered "aye," you are more likely to get the aforementioned disease as your parent or sibling and should consider before screening. Talk to your dr. about when to start screening and what other steps to accept to prevent the disease or observe it early. Finding disease early can often hateful better health in the long run.

Did y'all know that Thanksgiving is also National Family History Day? Even if you don't have a parent or sibling with cancer or diabetes, you might be more likely to get a disease if other people in your family take or had the affliction. Notwithstanding, having a family health history of a disease doesn't mean that yous will definitely get information technology. Knowing your family wellness history run a risk can aid you—if you deed on it. Collecting your family wellness history is an of import get-go stride. Whether yous know a lot virtually your family unit health history or only a little, take time to talk to your family about their health histories this vacation season. It might not exist easy. Your family members might not exist used to talking about their diseases or might not want to talk. But starting the conversation is important. Remember, y'all're asking not only for your ain health, but for the wellness of everyone in your family.

Don't know where to offset? My Family unit Health Portrait can assistance!

My Family Health Portrait is a free and easy to use online tool to aid y'all collect your family unit health history information. You can share your information with your family members and doctor.

How to Collect Your Family unit Health History

• Talk to your family unit. Write down the names of your shut relatives from both sides of the family unit: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Talk to these family unit members about what conditions they have or had, and at what age the weather condition were first diagnosed. You might think you know nearly all of the atmospheric condition in your parents or siblings, but you might find out more than information if you lot ask.
• Ask questions. To notice out about your risk for chronic diseases, ask your relatives most which of these diseases they have had and when they were diagnosed. Questions can include:
  • Do y'all have whatsoever chronic diseases, such as heart disease or diabetes, or health weather, such every bit loftier blood pressure or high cholesterol?
  • Have you had any other serious diseases, such equally cancer or stroke? What type of cancer?
  • How old were you when each of these diseases or health conditions was diagnosed? (If your relative doesn't call up the verbal age, knowing the approximate age is nevertheless useful.)
  • What is your family unit's beginnings? From what countries or regions did your ancestors come to the Usa?
  • What were the causes and ages of expiry for relatives who have died?
• Record the information and update it whenever you learn new family health history information. My Family Wellness Portrait, a free spider web-based tool, is helpful in organizing the information in your family wellness history. My Family Wellness Portrait allows you to share this data easily with your md and other family members.
• Share family health history information with your doctor and other family members. If yous are concerned about diseases that are common in your family, talk with your doctor at your side by side visit. Fifty-fifty if you don't know all of your family health history information, share what y'all do know. Family wellness history information, even if incomplete, tin can assistance your doctor decide which screening tests yous need and when those tests should first.

If you have a medical condition, such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, be sure to let your family members know about your diagnosis. If you have had genetic testing washed, share your results with your family members. If you are one of the older members of your family unit, yous may know more nigh diseases and health conditions in your family unit, especially in relatives who are no longer living. Be sure to share this data with your younger relatives then that you may all benefit from knowing this family unit health history information.

How to Act on Your Family Health History

Knowing about your family health history of a disease can motivate yous to take steps to lower your chances of getting the disease. You can't alter your family health history, simply you can change unhealthy behaviors, such equally smoking, non exercising or being active, and poor eating habits. Talk with your doctor about steps that you tin can take, including whether you should consider early screening for the affliction. If you have a family health history of illness, y'all may take the most to gain from lifestyle changes and screening tests.

What you can do if you have a family health history of

• Colorectal cancer: If yous have a mother, father, sister, brother, or other close family unit member who had colorectal cancer before historic period 50 or have multiple close family members with colorectal cancer, talk to your medico almost whether you should have screening starting at a younger historic period, beingness washed more oftentimes, and using colonoscopy only instead of other tests. In some cases, your doctor may recommend that you lot have genetic counseling, and a genetic counselor may recommend genetic testing based on your family health history.
• Breast or ovarian cancer: If y'all accept a parent, sibling, or child with breast cancer, talk to your medico about when y'all should starting time mammography screening. If your relative was diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50, if you have a close relative with ovarian cancer, or if you have a male relative with chest cancer, your md might refer you for cancer genetic counseling to find out if genetic testing is right for you. In some cases, your doctor might recommend taking tamoxifen, raloxifene,  or aromatase inhibitors, drugs that can decrease risk of developing breast cancer in some women.
• Heart disease: If you have a family health history of heart illness, you can take steps to lower your chances of getting heart disease. These steps can include eating a healthy nutrition, beingness physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, limiting your alcohol employ, having whatever screening tests that your doctor recommends, and, in some cases, taking medication. If you or a family member has LDL cholesterol levels over 190 mg/dL (or over 160 mg/dL in children), talk to your doctor about getting checked for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), specially if you have a family health history of early eye disease or heart attacks. If yous take FH, yous might need to take additional steps to maintain your health.
• Diabetes: If your female parent, father, brother, or sister has type 2 diabetes, y'all and your other family unit members could have prediabetes and are more likely to get type 2 diabetes. While well-nigh people with blazon 2 diabetes are older adults, more and more than children, teens, and young adults are developing type 2 diabetes. But in that location are important steps yous and your children can take to prevent type 2 diabetes and opposite prediabetes if you have it. Take this examexternal icon to notice out if you or your family members could have prediabetes. Ask your doctor whether yous need earlier screening for diabetes. Find out more about the National Diabetes Prevention Plan'due south lifestyle change program and how to observe a programme near you.  Accept the Diabetes Risk Examinationexternal icon to observe out if yous are at take a chance for type 2 diabetes and larn how to prevent blazon 2 diabetesexternal icon.
• Osteoporosis: This is a medical condition where basic become weak and are more than likely to suspension. A family wellness history of osteoporosis is one of a number of factors that make you lot more likely to develop osteoporosis. For example, if you are a white adult female whose female parent or begetter fractured a hip, talk to your dr. almost screening for osteoporosis earlier (at almost age 55, compared with historic period 65 for about women). You tin use the FRAX Risk Assessment toolexternal icon to learn if you should be screened.
• Hereditary Hemochromatosis: Hereditary hemochromatosis is a disorder in which the body can build up too much fe and tin can pb to serious liver damage and other problems. If yous accept a brother or sis with hemochromatosis, you lot may be more probable to develop the condition yourself. Talk to your doctor about testing for hemochromatosis and whether y'all should take steps to lower the amount of atomic number 26 in your body.

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Source: https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/famhistory/knowing_not_enough.htm

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