You can’t choose your family, but you can choose to learn about their health history and conditions - and that information can help you live a longer, healthier life.
Your family health history can provide a roadmap for you and your primary care physician to use to avoid medical issues that are common in your family, according to Julie Zenger-Hain, Ph.D., director of cytogenetics at Beaumont.
“Knowing your family health history is a great tool to help you and your primary care physician manage your health,” Dr. Zenger-Hain said. “The more you know about diseases that run in your family, the more effective you and your physician can be in screening for those diseases and managing your health.”
It’s an important, if occasionally awkward, conversation that can help everyone involved, she said. There are a few simple rules:
- Look for what health conditions they have/ and how old they were then they were diagnosed.
- Pay careful attention to diseases that do not normally affect a certain gender, like a male relative who was diagnosed with breast cancer.
- Don’t stop with your immediate family. Collect information about your grandparents, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews.
It’s important to remember that genetics plays a role in some chronic conditions, but it is not the only factor in whether you will develop them. For example, if your father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, you will not automatically develop the disease.
Genetic counseling is the process of helping people understand and adapt to the medical, psychological and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease.
A family history of a disease may mean you are at an increased risk for it, however, and If your doctor notices a pattern of disease in your family, he or she may refer you to a specialist who can help determine whether you have an inherited form of that disease.
Knowing your family health history can be a powerful tool you can use to build a healthier life, but so can changing the behaviors that contribute to chronic diseases. Zenger-Hain said it’s important to stop smoking, get active, eat healthy and maintain a healthy body weight.
Family gatherings can be a good opportunity to collect the information you need. Zenger-Hain said the conversation is worth having, no matter how awkward it may be.
“Look at it this way: it’s a powerful tool you can use to take charge of your health and you’re creating a longer, healthier life with your family,” she said.