ACES Baldwin County Office

We inherit a lot of things from our parents and other family members, like our shoe size, hair texture and facial features. These aren't the only things you may have inherited from your family, however. Many medical conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, alcoholism and Alzheimer's disease have also been shown to be passed down through families.

A family medical history or medical family tree is a record of important medical information about your relatives, including illnesses and diseases, along with the relationships among the members of your family. A family health or medical history is begun by talking with your immediate family members -- parents, grandparents and siblings -- as they provide the most important links to genetic risk.

Some studies say that over 40 percent of the population is at increased genetic risk for a common disease such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Understanding your risk for developing such diseases is an important reason to learn more about your family history. By knowing your risk, you can make informed decisions about prevention and screening, and even participate in genetic-based research aimed at understanding, preventing and curing disease. For example, if your father had colon cancer at age 45, you should probably be screened at an earlier age for colon cancer than age 50, the average age for first-time colon cancer screening.

A family medical history helps document familial patterns which may impact your health, such as trends towards specific types of cancer, early heart disease, or even something simple such as skin problems. Compiling a family medical history can help you and your doctor spot these family patterns and use the information to assist with diagnosing a medical condition, determining whether you may benefit from preventive measures to lower your risk of a specific disease.

The U.S. Surgeon General suggest that we go back three generations ( to your grandparents or great grandparents) and try to collect details on every direct family member who has died and the cause of death. Also document the medical conditions of all family members, including the age at which they were first diagnosed, their treatment, and if they ever had surgery.

Providing this vital information can be a tremendous benefit to the legacy you leave for your family. If you are wondering, where do I start? My Family Health Portrait allows you to create a personalized family health history report from any computer with an Internet connection and an up-to-date Web browser. Information you provide creates a drawing of your family tree and a chart of your family health history. Both the chart and the drawing can be printed and shared with your family members or your healthcare professional. Used in consultation with your healthcare professional, your family health history can help you review your family's health history and develop disease prevention strategies that are right for you. You can download the form at http://familyhistory.hhs.gov/

Three Identity Theft Workshops, October 31, 12:00 noon, Loxley Civic Center; November 5, 11:00 a.m., First United Methodist Church, Bay Minette; November 27, 9:00 a.m., Daphne Senior Center.

Two Estate Planning Workshops, November 27th & 28th, 6:00-8:00 p.m., Gulf Shores Senior Center.

Email address: aoutlaw@aces.edu
Phone: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

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