Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Winter 2002)

What you don’t know about your family health history can hurt you.

Why the “need to know” about the medical woes of Aunt Martha and Grandpa Joe? Certain diseases and medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and high cholesterol, run in families.

While the fact that your father has heart disease doesn’t mean you’re sure to get it, your lineage does put you at risk for it.

Giving your doctor a heads-up about what maladies lurk in your family tree means you may have a better shot at prevention and/or treatment, says Dr. Donna Sullivan, a physician at Poudre Valley Health System’s Family Medicine Center.

It’s difficult to estimate how many people know their complete family health history when they walk into the doctor’s office, Dr. Sullivan says.

What is known is that fewer people live with extended families under one roof, or even close by. That means your father’s physician likely isn’t yours, and health history isn’t automatically passed along by way of health charts neatly filed at one doctor’s office.

But that doesn’t mean accurate family medical history can’t get into the hands of your primary-care doctor. That’s where you, the health consumer, come in. Check with family members about health history, says Dr. Sullivan.

“It isn’t hard to ask (for the information). It’s getting the details,” she says.

That means getting the particulars on Uncle Bob’s heart disease. Did he have a heart attack or arrhythmia? Even knowing the medication he took can help pinpoint his ailment. At approximately what age was he diagnosed? Was he overweight or did he smoke? How old was when he died?
Make a point of calling, writing or asking relatives in person about their health as well as the health of relatives who are deceased. (Download your own family history chart.)

“Not having your family history gives us a blind spot, but that’s not the only thing we look at,” Dr. Sullivan says, adding that an individual’s lifestyle and risk factors, such as dietary habits and exercise, play equally important roles in predicting health.

In addition to recognizing your own risk factors, it’s good to know those for family members. That Aunt Sue had breast cancer is worth noting as well as the fact that she smoked.

“How (relatives) take care of themselves makes a difference,” Dr. Sullivan says.

Young adults should begin quizzing their parents once they hit age 50. Women should talk to their mothers about family history for menopause.

“Having that information would be helpful to predict when (daughters) might be having symptoms or whether their symptoms are significantly different from their mother’s,” Dr. Sullivan says.
Likewise, women need to inquire about family history of breast cancer. Women whose relatives on their mother’s side had breast cancer are typically screened earlier and more often for the disease, due to a strong familial link, she says.

The important thing is to get family members talking, for your family health history is an essential piece in developing a more complete picture of health.