Can We Talk? Put Health History on the Menu this Holiday Season

Holiday gatherings are a perfect time to talk about genealogy and family trees. U.S. federal health officials want Americans to take this a bit further over the Thanksgiving weekend, however, and serve up a little family health history at the holiday table. This Thanksgiving is the third annual National Family History Day, as declared by the U.S. Surgeon General

Taking the time to learn, and record, your families' health history is a positive step toward ensuring many years of future family gatherings. Knowing who in your family had what type of cancer or suffered from diabetes can provide the critical information your doctor needs for proper diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

"Many Americans know that their family medical history is important. However with daily life demands and families often separated by many miles, most of us have not gathered what could be THE most important tool in protecting our health -- our family health history," says Marilyn C. Jones, MD, president of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

In their Can We Talk? holiday press release, the ACMG urges people to ask the following five questions this Thanksgiving to start the conversation about a family's health history.

1. Are there any health problems that are known to run in our family, or that close relatives have been told are genetic? If so, what are these conditions?

2. Is there anyone in the family who had cancer, heart disease, or other adult-onset health problem at an early age, such as between 20 and 50?

3. Does/did anyone in the family have mental retardation, learning problems, or have to go to special school?

4. Have there been any early deaths in the family, including stillbirths, infant deaths, multiple miscarriages, or shortened lifespan?

5. Have any relatives had extreme, unexpected or reactions to medications or therapy?

Additional Tools & Resources:

The U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative -- My Health Portrait. Or, in Spanish, French and other languages.

Tracing Your Family Medical History. Are You at Risk?