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continued:
Medical history: Compiling your medical family tree
What other sources of information may be beneficial?
You may want to consult family documents, such as existing family trees, baby books, old letters, obituaries or records from places of worship. Public records — birth certificates, marriage licenses and death certificates — are usually available in county record offices. If you or your family members maintain electronic personal health records, use them.
If you're adopted, ask your adoptive parents if they received any medical information about your biological parents at the time of your adoption. Adoption agencies also may have family medical information on file. If you were adopted through an open adoption process, you may be able to discuss your family's medical history directly with members of your biological family.
What information should be included in a family medical history?
If possible, your family medical history should include at least three generations. Compile information about your grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, siblings, cousins, children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. For each person, try to gather the following information:
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Ethnicity
- Diseases or other medical conditions
- Age when disease was diagnosed
- Diet, exercise habits, smoking habits or history of weight problems
- For deceased relatives, age at the time of death and cause of death
Ask about the occurrence of the following diseases and medical conditions often associated with genetic risk:
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Dementia
- Asthma
- Arthritis
- Mental illness
- High blood pressure or high cholesterol
- Stroke
- Kidney disease
- Alcoholism or other substance abuse
- Vision or hearing loss
- Learning disabilities
- Mental retardation
- Miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects or infertility
How should the information be compiled into a family tree?
Once you've gathered information about your family, create a diagram that visually depicts the relationships among family members. Record the medical information and other details about each person on your tree. If information about a disease or cause of death is unknown, don't guess at the answer. An incorrect guess can result in a poor interpretation of your medical history. Don't worry if some details are missing.
Give your doctor a copy of your family medical history and ask him or her to review it with you. Your doctor may ask you questions for clarification and can help you interpret the relevance of certain patterns in your medical history. He or she may advise you immediately regarding preventive measures you can take or screening tests you should schedule. Going forward, update your family medical history every couple of years. Be sure to share updates with your doctor.
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- Family medical history in disease prevention. American Medical Association. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/464/family_history02.pdf. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Wattendorf DJ, et al. Family history: The three-generation pedigree. American Family Physician. 2005;72:441.
- Yoon P, et al. The family history public health initiative. In: Gwinn M, et al. Genomics and Population Health: United States, 2003. Atlanta, Ga.: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2004:39.
- Family history is important for your health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/public/file/print/FamHistFactSheet.pdf. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Your family history — Your future. The American Society of Human Genetics. http://www.nsgc.org/consumer/familytree. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- The U.S. surgeon general's family history initiative. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/start/startenglish.pdf. Accessed July 14, 2009.
