- To start mapping your family medical tree, go to www.vagisil/familytree.com and print out a
template for filling in your personal information. After your tree is finished, make copies to
bring with you to doctor visits. Ask the doctor to review it with you and discuss any potential
risk factors. Plan a personal health strategy with your doctor that takes this information into
account.
- Get the most specific, detailed information that you can about your family's medical history.
If your relatives are not able to give you enough information, you can request a death
certificate from the health department in the state where the person died. You may also be
able to obtain information from medical records or hospitals if you explain why you need it.
Double-check your facts.
- If you have a relative in your immediate family with a particular disease, check further for
others on that side of the family. Cancer was not always discussed openly and older
generations sometimes didn't have accurate medical information. For example, Aunt Jean,
who was said to have died from liver, bone, colon or "abdominal" cancer, may have actually
had cancer that originated in the breast or ovaries. Find out where the cancer originated. This
can make a big difference in your risk factors if it adds to the number of close relatives who
had a particular disease.
- Obtain the age at which a relative was first diagnosed with a disease. Typically, the earlier a
disease occurs, the more likely it is that genetics played a role.
- Start with your parents and grandparents on both sides, paying the most attention to your
mother's and father's medical histories. Your father's female relatives could prove to be as
important as your mother's. Once you have finished this, add as many relatives as possible to
help uncover trends. Include aunts, uncles, cousins and distant relatives.
- Check family photo albums for clues to medical conditions that may not be easily disclosed.
An elderly woman, for example, with an excessive hump in her back may have had
osteoporosis though no one in the family ever called it that.
- If you are adopted, you may be able to obtain information on your biological parents'
medical history without their identities being revealed. If you know the name of the adoption
agency that placed you, ask for help in getting this medical information. If not, try contacting
the Adoption Liberty Movement Association, P.O. Box 154, Washington Bridge Station,
New York, NY 10033.
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