Helping Generations with Medical Issues By Sanvi Goutama

Your family health history is key in taking care of your health. It is important to keep track of all the health concerns one's family has. A family health history is a record of health information about a person, and his or his relatives. Generations of people have similar genetic backgrounds and similar environments, as these traits have been passed down from one person to another. All these traits and factors are indications and signs that may run in one’s family. If health issues such as blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke are known to run in the family, it can help us identify the risk of developing these conditions due to the passed down genes.

It is keen to identify these health concerns, as to protect ourselves from the growth and spreading of the illness. And by identifying these issues, I want to know and determine the possibility of the younger family generations of the risk of these particular conditions. The easiest way to get information about your family health history is to talk to your grandparents, parents, maternal uncles and aunts, brother, sister, and many other close relatives in order to learn more about their health. You can also use family gatherings as a time to talk about their health history. But let your relatives know that you are not being meddlesome, but just want to gather the details that could help benefit the other family members by showing the illnesses that run from generation to generation. You should offer to share what you learn, so that they know what is the highest risk of infections or diseases.

Talking to all my closest relatives and family members, I gathered information about their medical condition, age at disease diagnosis, treatment, and their present health condition. Once you learn and find out about this medical history, you can make powerful choices for yourself. This history also tells your doctor what health issues one might be at risk for in the future, and how it can be treated in a safe manner. Based on this, it created awareness for future generations on how to take steps to reduce his or her risk of developing certain diseases. We can’t determine what genes are passed down, but we can change how this illness can be treated and that it should always be treated at the developing stage, so that it doesn’t spread further. Finding a disease earlier can often result in better health, in the long run.