Everyone knows Thanksgiving is a day for coming together with family and friends to enjoy good food and give thanks for one another’s company.
However, not many people realize that since 2004, the Surgeon General has declared Thanksgiving to be National Family History Day. This is meant to encourage families to discuss and document health history.
“What is important to realize is we as humans inherit not only a portion of anatomy, but also a portion of our chemistry and even a portion of our personality, any of which can be the start of disease” - Dr. Joel Wood
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, knowing the health history of blood relatives can help a doctor predict the disorders for which a person may be at risk and take early action.
“What is important to realize is we as humans inherit not only a portion of anatomy, but also a portion of our chemistry and even a portion of our personality, any of which can be the start of disease,” says The Ohio State University Primary Care New Albany lead physician Dr. Joel Wood. “Knowing our family health history helps each of us understand what we may have inherited as our future health concerns.”
If you haven’t begun collecting this information already, take advantage of having the family together over the holidays to talk openly about your family health history. Though every family is different, and it can be intimidating to discuss health history – especially if there has been a recent death or serious illness in the family – no family should let intimidation stop them from documenting vital information.
So, what kind of information is important, and how should you go about gathering it? You should shoot for three generations of health history, and don’t stress if there are missing pieces of information. An incomplete history is more helpful than none at all.
“Three generations of history is a common goal: grandparents, parents and siblings,” says Wood. “Being able to obtain history of great-grandparents and then aunts and uncles adds an additional layer of benefit.”
Wood suggests starting out with very general questions that are less invasive and working your way into more personal and private questions with time.
“One should start with asking familiar history, such as name, relation, age of death, slim or overweight. These questions allow the conversation to start. Then move to asking general questions of any surgeries, heart attacks or strokes in any of these family members,” says Wood. “Next, ask about common issues of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and thyroid disease … then questions about cancer and eye disease. The last questions should focus on mental illness history, which tends to be the most personal of all.”
As soon as you’re able to have a conversation with your children, parents and grandparents about health history, you should. The sooner you know if you are at risk for a disease or disorder, the sooner you can adapt your lifestyle to help reduce your risk in the future.
"I learned that I, too, need to ask more questions about family health history, and to share with my family my health history, allowing for easier diagnosis, quicker treatment and less anxiety about uncertainty toward health problems.” - Dr. Joel Wood
Wood understands the importance of the continual sharing of family health history, not only as a primary caregiver, but also as a patient himself.
“After I rush away in the middle of the day in a panic to be evaluated for a rapid onset of vision loss, which was diagnosed as the temporary issue of ocular migraine, my father casually brings up he has had these ocular migraines as well,” says Wood. “Knowing this family health history ahead of time would have decreased a significant amount of anxiety for me. I learned that I, too, need to ask more questions about family health history, and to share with my family my health history, allowing for easier diagnosis, quicker treatment and less anxiety about uncertainty toward health problems.”
After the conversation with your family, make sure you write down the information that you have collected and get a copy to your primary care provider. The Surgeon General also created an online tool to aid in documenting, archiving and updating information called My
About the Expert
Joel Wood, M.D., is a clinical assistant professor of family medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and lead physician at OSU Primary Care New Albany, board certified in family medicine. He is pleased to live, work and worship in New Albany.
Family Health Portrait. Visit familyhistory.hhs.gov to learn more and access the tool.
Jenny Wise is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at adeperro@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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