Family History is Important
for Your Health
The U.S. Surgeon General’s
Family History Initiative
What determines your risk for disease?
Risk Factors
A risk factor increases your risk of developing
a disease or health problem.
Environment
Behaviors and lifestyle
Genes
Risk Factors for Disease
Environment
Environmental risk factors include exposures to
harmful agents in food, water and air.
Risk Factors for Disease
Behaviors and lifestyle
Behavioral and lifestyle risk factors include poor diet,
lack of physical activity, smoking, abuse of alcohol,
and failure to get recommended screening tests.
Risk Factors for Disease
Genes
Genes provide the directions for building all of the proteins
that make our bodies function. Genes are passed down by
parents to their offspring. Some genes may not function
properly leading to disease.
Risk Factors for Disease
Genes, environment, and behaviors
interact with each other to cause disease.
Behaviors
Interaction
Genes
Environment
Risk Factors for Disease
Family history helps capture the effects
of these interactions on disease risk.
Behaviors
Genes
Environment
What is family history?
A family’s
combination of
shared genes,
environment,
behavior, and
culture
We all have a family history of something!
depression
high cholesterol
asthma
heart disease
leanness
kidney disease
cancer
diabetes
Alzheimer’s
allergies
obesity
blue eyes
stroke
curly hair
arthritis
emphysema
athleticism
high blood pressure
osteoporosis
acne
Family history is a risk factor for diseases
throughout all stages of life
birth defects
blood disorders
infants
children
asthma
autism
diabetes
depression
adolescents
Alzheimer’s disease
osteoporosis
adults
cancer
heart disease
older adults
How can your family
history help you?
•
Learn about diseases that run in your family
•
Take advantage of screening tests that can
detect disease at an early stage when it is most
treatable
•
Change unhealthy behaviors such as smoking,
inactivity and poor eating habits
How can you collect your family history?
•
Ask questions
•
Talk at family gatherings
•
Draw a family tree
•
Write down the information
•
Look at death certificates, family medical records, etc.
What information do you need?
•
Major medical conditions and causes of death
•
Age family member developed disease and age at death
•
Ethnic background
•
General lifestyle factors like heavy drinking and smoking
Example:
Uncle Bill – smoked cigarettes since he was a teenager,
had a heart attack at age 52
What relatives should be included?
• you
•
children
•
siblings
•
parents
•
grandparents
•
aunts and uncles
•
nieces and nephews
What should you do with the information?
•
Organize the information
•
Share it with your health
professional
•
Keep it updated
•
Pass it on to your children
How health professionals organize family history
grand-parents
grand-parents
aunts &
uncles
parents
siblings
you
children
nieces & nephews
To learn to draw a family tree like this, go to
http://www.nsgc.org/consumer/
What will your health
professional do with the
information?
•
Determine your risk for disease based on:
- number of family members with the disease
- the age when they were diagnosed
- how you are related to the family member
•
Consider other disease risk factors
•
Recommend screening tests and lifestyle changes
Shirley wonders about her
risk for diabetes
Both of Shirley’s parents developed diabetes
by the time they were 60
Shirley knows she doesn’t always eat right and she
is overweight. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall and
weighs 175 pounds.
With these risk factors - family history,
overweight, poor diet – should Shirley
be concerned about diabetes?
Shirley’s Family History
Shirley has heard that diabetes can run in the family,
so she asked her health professional to assess her risk.
Family history
Assessment
Diabetes:
mother, 43 yrs
father, 59 yrs
uncle, 50 yrs (father’s side)
aunt, 59 yrs (father’s side)
Strong Risk
Shirley’s doctor
recommends:
- losing weight, eating a healthy
diet and increasing physical activity
- regular blood sugar screening
Heart Disease:
Moderate Risk - losing weight, eating a healthy
mother, 66 yrs
diet and increasing physical activity
uncle, 68 yrs (mother’s side)
- regular cholesterol screening
- regular blood pressure screening
- possibly take aspirin regularly
How did Shirley’s family
history help her?
She learned that she had increased risk for diabetes and heart
disease. Her family history was a risk factor, in addition to her
weight.
Shirley started getting more regular screenings for
• blood sugar
• blood pressure and
• cholesterol
She talked to her health professional about losing
weight through healthy eating and physical activity
programs that were right for her.
People with a family history of disease
may have the most to gain from
lifestyle changes and screening tests!
Do people care about their family
health history?
In a CDC-based survey of over 4,000 individuals:
• 97% thought that knowledge of family health
history was important
• But, only 30% had actually ever collected health
information from relatives to develop a family
health history.
Healthstyles Survey, 2004
Goals of the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family
History Initiative
•
Increase awareness among the public and health
professionals of the value of family history for
disease prevention.
•
Provide new tools to gather information, assess risk,
and guide prevention strategies.
•
Increase genomics and health literacy.
•
Prepare the public and health professionals for the
coming era in which genomics will be an integral
part of regular health care.
A free web-based tool for collecting family history, available
in both English and Spanish, can be accessed from:
www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/
My Family Health Portrait: Print Version
• Free print version
also available in
English and
Spanish
• Call: 1-888-275-
4772 or visit
www.ask.hrsa.gov
U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative
A collaboration of the following federal agencies:
Family History Resources
• U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative
www.hhs.gov/familyhistory
• CDC, Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention
www.cdc.gov/genomics/public/famhist.htm
Prevention is Primary…
Create Your Family’s Future!