Making Sense of Family History

Family history refers to the presence or absence of a specific disease or illness in your relatives. If your grandmother had high blood pressure, then you have a "positive family history" for high blood pressure.

Don't be afraid of your family history:

• Family history for one disease does not say anything about other diseases
• If you dig deep enough into the family tree, everyone has a positive family history of just about everything
• You can't control your genes, but you are in control of what you do with those genes

The Two Types of Family History

Doctors often talk about family history in terms of two main types

1. General Family History, or just "Family History"
2. Immediate Family History

The difference between these two types of family history has to do with who in your family had the disease in question. If your mother, father, or any siblings were ever diagnosed with high blood pressure, then you are said to have a positive immediate family history. Anyone else in your family is not considered to be immediate. This includes

• Grandparents
• Aunts or Uncles
• Cousins

People to whom you are related by marriage don't count at all.

What to Say When your Doctor Asks About Family History

Doctors ask about your family history for various diseases in almost every clincial encounter. However, depending on the experience level of the doctor, the reason for the doctor visit, and the type of encounter (ER visit versus normal office visit), he may not always ask for very specific details about each disease. Remember, though, that everything you say gets written down, and everything that gets written down becomes a part of your permanent medical record. That means you should provide as much appropriate detail as you can, even if you aren't asked.

In general, when your doctor asks about family history for a disease you should tell him

1. Who in your family had the disease
2. The age when that person was diagnosed
3. What treatment, if any, they had, and if it worked
4. If they are still living, or are deceased
5. If the family member died because of the disease in question

Providing your doctor with this information will allow the two of you to better plan a future course of appropriate monitoring and, if necessary, treatment.