Genograms Connect Family Tree to Health Risks
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Everybody knows that family history can be a major predictor of the health issues each of us may someday face. But few of us have all the information we need to get a true picture of our family health history.
According to Dr. Raeann Hamon, a professor of human development and family science at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., one way to connect all the dots is to create a genogram to assess family heath.
A genogram looks essentially like a genealogical family tree. But instead of just birth and death dates for each family member, genograms also contain information about each person’s medical history. Hamon says families can use them to spot patterns of genetic disease and patterns of behavior that affect health such as smoking or alcoholism.
“There’s a lot of preventative work that can be done if we see the patterns coming through the generations,” Hamon says. For example, if a woman sees that three of her grandmother’s sisters had breast cancer, she may have extra incentive to get a regular mammogram.
Knowing our family history can influence our treatment decisions as well.
“Three of my father’s brothers died of heart disease in their 40s,” Hamon says. “So when he had to go to the hospital with heaviness in his chest, my mother demanded further tests.” As it turned out, her father had did have an aortic aneurism that would have killed him without proper treatment.
And since genetic diseases can often skip a generation or two, Hamon says that we may not realize that a disease run in our family until we physically see it on paper.
Putting together a genogram starts with learning the appropriate symbols, which can be found on the web. Hamon says websites such as genopro.com offer plenty of free resources to get started.
After that, the information gathering begins.
“Start asking questions at family gatherings like Thanksgiving [dinner],” Hamon says. But be aware that medical information can be a sensitive subject for some.
“Some people don’t mind, but other family members may be more reluctant, so you need to respect the boundaries. If you let family know you’re doing this to improve the next generation’s health, they’re usually more willing to participate.”
Once information going back at least three generations has been collected, you can create enough of a family genogram to being looking for patterns.
And what you find might one day save your life.
Source: Dick Jones Communications
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