Do you know your family health history? Here's why it matters!

Do you know your family health history?

One of the things we always discuss in a first visit is family history. Genetics aren’t everything, but genetics can absolutely play a role in terms of your likelihood of developing a disease and help guide screening.  

We have to guess on a lot of things, but we’re making a stronger guess if we know there’s a family history of something.  

When asked about their family health history many people say, “Oh yeah, they’re healthy”, but when we dive deeper they realize that parents or siblings or grandparents ARE taking medication for something.

Or they know their family members do struggle with cholesterol or blood pressure but my patient feels it isn’t relevant for them because they maintain a very different diet or lifestyle. 

Let me be clear, diet and lifestyle absolutely do impact one's risk of developing something, but they’re not the only thing!

Consider Asking Your Family The Following Questions:

• Ask your parents, siblings, and grandparents if they’re on any medications.  

• Ask them if they’ve been diagnosed with any health conditions.

• If you menstruate, ask your mom/grandma or other females in the family about their menstrual history, perimenopause experience and age at menopause.

• Ask if they’ve ever had concerns in terms of bone density.

• Ask them what their blood pressure is.

• Ask if they have any autoimmune conditions.  
  

So, why does it matter?

If we catch a condition in its early stages, it’s much easier to treat and manage and potentially avoid medication.  If we wait, it can be harder to manage.  

Family history can help us be proactive so we know what to look for and so we can catch and treat things quickly and effectively!