Family Health History and Adults

Overview

Knowing and acting on your family health history can be an important part of staying healthy. Family health history can help your healthcare provider decide what screening tests and other interventions you need and when. For example, if your mother had breast cancer before age 50, your healthcare provider might refer you for genetic counseling.

Take time to talk to your family members about their health histories. It might not be easy. Your family members might not feel comfortable talking about their diseases or might not want to talk. But starting the conversation is important. Remember, you're asking not just for your own health, but for the health of everyone in your family.

If you have a medical condition, such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, tell your family members about your diagnosis. If you have had genetic testing done, share your results with your family members. If you're older than other family members, you may know more about diseases and health conditions in deceased relatives. Share this information with your younger relatives so that you may all benefit from it.

Collect and share your family health history

Are you ready to collect your family health history but don't know where to start? Here's how!

Talk to your family

Write down the names of your close blood relatives from both sides of the family:

• parents,
• siblings,
• half-siblings,
• grandparents,
• aunts,
• uncles,
• nieces, and
• nephews.
  

Talk to these family members about what conditions they have or had and at what age the conditions started.

Ask questions

To find out about your risk for chronic diseases, ask your relatives which diseases they have and their age at diagnosis. You might think you know about all of the conditions in your parents or siblings. But you might find out more information if you ask.

Questions can include

• Do you have any chronic diseases, such as heart disease or diabetes?
• Do you have any health conditions, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol?
• Have you had any other serious diseases, such as cancer or stroke? What type of cancer?
• How old were you when you found out you had each of these diseases and health conditions?
  • If your relative doesn't remember the exact age, knowing the approximate age is still useful.
• What were the cause and age of death for relatives who have died?
• What is our family's ancestry? From what countries did our ancestors come to the United States?

Record and update your family health history

Record family health history information and update it whenever you learn new family health history information.

My Family Health Portrait, a free web-based tool, is helpful in organizing the information in your family health history. My Family Health Portrait allows you to share this information easily with your healthcare provider and other family members.

Share your family health history

Share family health history information with your healthcare provider.

• If you have concerns about diseases that run in your family, talk with your healthcare provider at your next visit.
• Even if you don't know all of your family health history information, share what you do know.
• Family health history information can help your healthcare provider decide which screening tests you need and when those tests should start.

Share your medical and family health history with your family members.

• If you have a medical condition, such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, let your family members know about your diagnosis.
• If you have had genetic testing done, share your results with your family members.
• If you're older than other family members, you may know more about diseases and health conditions in relatives who have died. Be sure to share this information with your younger relatives so that you may all benefit from it.

Act on your family health history

Having a family health history of a disease doesn't mean that you or your family members will definitely get it. Your family health history can motivate you to take steps to make you less likely to get the disease. You can't change your family health history, but you can change unhealthy behaviors. These can include smoking, not exercising or being active, and poor eating habits.

Talk with your healthcare provider about steps that you can take, including whether you should consider early screening for the disease. If you have a family health history of disease, lifestyle changes and screening tests can make an important difference.

What you can do

Learn steps you can take if you have a family health history of any of the following conditions.

Colorectal cancer

You are more likely to have colorectal cancer if you have a parent or sibling with colorectal cancer before age 50. Having multiple close family members with colorectal cancer also increases your risk. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you should have screening

• starting at a younger age,
• done more frequently, and
• using colonoscopy only instead of other tests.

In some cases, your healthcare provider may recommend that you have genetic counseling. A genetic counselor may recommend genetic testing based on your family health history.

Breast or ovarian cancer

If you have a parent, sibling, or child with breast cancer, follow current recommendations and start getting mammograms at age 40.

Your healthcare provider might refer you for genetic counseling to decide if genetic testing is right for you if you have

• a relative diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50,
• a close relative with ovarian cancer, or
• a male relative with breast cancer.

In some cases, your healthcare provider might recommend taking drugs that can decrease risk of developing breast cancer in some women. These include tamoxifen, raloxifene, or aromatase inhibitors.

Heart disease

If you have a family health history of heart disease, you can take steps to lower your chances of getting it. These steps can include

• eating a healthy diet,
• being physically active,
• maintaining a healthy weight,
• not smoking,
• limiting your alcohol use,
• having any screening tests that your healthcare provider recommends, and,
• in some cases, taking medication.

If your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is >190 mg/dL, ask your healthcare provider about checking for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). This is especially important if you have a family health history of early heart disease or heart attacks. If you have FH, you might need to take additional steps to maintain your health.

Diabetes

If your mother, father, brother, or sister has type 2 diabetes, you and your other family members could have prediabetes. Prediabetes makes you more likely to get type 2 diabetes. Most people with type 2 diabetes are older adults. However, more and more children, teens, and young adults are developing type 2 diabetes.

You and your children can take steps to prevent type 2 diabetes and reverse prediabetes if you have it. Take this test to find out if you or your family members could have prediabetes. Ask your healthcare provider whether you need earlier screening for diabetes. Find out more about the National Diabetes Prevention Program's lifestyle change program and how to find a program near you.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a medical condition where bones become weak and are more likely to break. A family health history of osteoporosis is one of a number of factors that make you more likely to develop osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is more common in White women. If you are a White woman whose parent fractured a hip, talk to your healthcare provider about screening for osteoporosis earlier. Earlier screening starts at about age 55, compared with age 65 for most women.

Hereditary Hemochromatosis

Hereditary Hemochromatosis is a disorder in which the body can build up too much iron. This can lead to serious liver damage and other problems.

If you have a family member, especially a sibling, with hemochromatosis, you may be more likely to develop the condition yourself. Talk to your healthcare provider about testing for hemochromatosis. Ask whether you should take steps to lower the amount of iron in your body.