A Guide to Understanding and Knowing Your Family Health History

Taking a more proactive stance on your health is key to living a happier, better life. To get a better grasp of your overall health, it's not enough to know your status now—you need to know your family history as well.

In biological families, certain traits can be passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, this also includes traits that increase your risk for certain medical conditions and diseases. This information makes maintaining your health, seeking medical advice, and even applying for health insurance easier.

Why Do You Need to Know Your Family Health History?

Knowing and keeping track of your family health history is essential for determining the following information:

1. Pre-existing conditions
   
   One of the biggest reasons why you need to learn about your family history is so you can be aware of any pre-existing conditions in your family tree. Chronic illnesses like diabetes, asthma, lupus, and epilepsy can have a pattern of occurring within a family. Learning if your family is more prone to developing these conditions can affect the type of health insurance coverage you receive.
   
   
2. Health risks
   
   Some diseases and medical conditions are more likely to develop in people with certain traits, like gender, age, ethnicity, and other health factors. Learning your family health history gives you a broader perspective on the attributes that may put you at risk for certain diseases. From there, you can plan and make conscious life decisions to avoid them.
   
   
3. Genetic predisposition
   
   Hereditary diseases occur when defective genes are passed down from one generation to another, such as hemophilia, sickle cell disease, and cystic fibrosis.
   
   Additionally, medical conditions concentrated in certain organs like the heart, lungs, liver, and kidney can reoccur within a family. Being aware of your family health history can help address these diseases should they manifest.
   
   Now that you understand why it's crucial to know your family health history, let's start!

4 Ways to Learn About Your Family Health History

With the amount of information you need to learn from your family history, it can be challenging to figure out where to start looking. If your family already maintains a record, keep it updated regularly with accurate information.

1. Ask your family members
   
   A good rule of thumb is to focus on immediate family members related to you by blood—parents, siblings, and your children. From there, you can include other biologically-related family members like aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, and grandparents.
   
   Older family members are good leads for creating your family health history, as they may be aware of other diseases or health conditions of previous generations.
   
   
2. Look at pre-existing public records
   
   Public records like birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates can provide some leads into details like ethnic backgrounds and causes of death. Other identifying information can help give additional context to the existing health history you have.
   
   
3. Consult your family's own records
   
   You may not need to start from scratch if your family maintains its own family health history. If possible, verify this information with family members to ensure accuracy. You may also review other personal documents your family has, such as journals, letters, private medical records, and so on.
   
   
4. Find alternative methods
   
   If your current sources of information for your family history are unsatisfactory, you may have to try alternative methods. Under the advice of a medical professional, you may consider undergoing genetic counseling or testing to determine your specific health concerns.
   
   

What If You're…

• Adopted
  
  It can be challenging for those who are adopted to figure out how to write an accurate family history that is representative of their health concerns. Given that genes are passed down biologically, your health concerns may be different from that of your adoptive family.
  
  Ask your adoptive family members if they may have information about your birth parents and any family health history. You may also get in touch with the institution that facilitated your adoption to check if they have existing records of this information.
  
  
• Estranged from Your Family
  
  Not all families are in good terms for various reasons. You may be unable or unwilling to talk with family members about your family health history.
  
  If you are still connected with some select members of your biological family, consider reaching out to them for information. Express your purpose clearly and make it clear that the entire family does not need to be involved.
  
  Otherwise, you will need to take advantage of public records such as death certificates and obituaries. These can provide you with information like a person’s cause of death or how old they were when they passed away.
  
  
• Unable to Find Living Relatives
  
  You may have started your family health history at a point in life where you are unable to track down living relatives to provide direct information to you. Direct information is usually the best source for maintaining a record, as it is easier to verify the information.
  
  If you are aware of any family friends or people close to your family, you can ask their help for tracing leads to possible family members. If your family has left behind personal records and documents, consider scanning them for vital information to supplement your record.
  
  

Final Thoughts

Your family health history isn't an idle record. You can use this information to actively work towards being healthier, like consulting with a doctor to address your risk for certain diseases or getting health insurance in the Philippines that better fits your pre-existing conditions.

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