Your Guide to Learning Your Family Health History

Your family health history is a list of health problems in your family. It also includes other information about you and your family members, such as:

• Your race and ethnicity.
• Where you live.
• What you do for work.
• Habits that can change your health.

Your genes and your day-to-day world affects your health. Your family health history can teach you about health problems you may inherit (passed to you from your parents). It shows:

• Where your family comes from.
• How your family lives, works, and plays.

For example, if you are from an Ashkenazi Jewish background you may have changes (mutations or variants) in the BRCA gene. This can raise your risk of getting some cancers, such as breast, prostate, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer.

Knowing your family health history can help you be healthy! It’s a way to learn about your risks for health problems. Some health problems are passed from parent to child. Others can be linked to things you share with your family members, like the foods you eat and where you live.

When you know your family health history, you may decide to follow healthier lifestyle habits.

If you do not know your blood relatives, start your family health history with yourself. You can fill in missing information over time, as you learn more. Reach out to people you do know. If you’re adopted, it’s important to learn about the health of your birth parents. Talk with your adoptive parents or reach out to the agency they worked with.

Here are ways to find information if you do not know your family:

• Research online with a genealogy website, your local library archives, or the National Archives. You can find census records, news articles, birth announcements, and obituaries.
  • You may need help finding information online you can trust. We have this resource available to help.
• Ask for vital records from your state or local government offices. Birth, marriage, and death certificates are all examples of vital records.

Ask family members if they have ever been told they had any of these health conditions:

Families share common genes, but they also share similar living environments, habits, and lifestyles. Knowing these factors can give you clues to help you know about health problems you can inherit. They can also affect your family’s health and well-being. Here is a list of factors that are important for knowing your family health history:

• The country or regions your family members came from.
• Places they lived (cities and towns).
• Eating habits and diet.
• Jobs and types of work.
• History of smoking or using other forms of tobacco.
• History of alcohol or drug use.

After talking with your family members, you can put all of the information together using our worksheet.

• Write down the names of all the family members you know and have learned about.
• Record only the health problems of the family members related to you by blood.
• Do not include the health conditions of family members related by marriage, adoption, or your chosen family.
  • For example, if you have an adoptive mother and a biological mother in your family tree, only write the health problems of your biological mother.
• For all family members on your list (blood related and not) write down any lifestyle factors you learned about after speaking with them.
• When you are finished, keep your family health history in a safe place so you can share it with your healthcare providers, your children, and other family members.