How to Create Your Family Health History

Knowing your family's medical history can help prevent disease. Another benefit of having a family medical history written up is to recognize the warning signs of certain diseases. Some diseases that run in families are: heart disease, obesity, diabetes, some cancers, asthma and autoimmune diseases.

Instructions

• 1

  Gather general information. Note the age of onset, ethnicity, physical descriptions and other risk factors. Ask specifics. Ask about allergies, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and genetic diseases. Ask about heart conditions, mental retardation, miscarriages, and neurological conditions.

• 2

  Review health related sources. Death certificates not only list the cause of death but also contributing factors and their length of illness. Federal censuses and mortality records may also shed some light. Do not overlook private records such as funeral home records, insurance papers, medical papers and family diaries.

• 3

  Create a spreadsheet or a database. Set up a column for the relations. Set up subsequent columns for various diseases or conditions. In the appropriate cell, write yes or no and the age of onset.

• 4

  Draw your pedigree using standard pedigree symbols. Male family members are signified by squares. Women are circles. Diamonds are used for unknown genders. A deceased person is symbolized by a diagonal line drawn through the shape. A "P" indicates a pregnancy. There are also symbols specific for twins, both identical and fraternal. If you prefer to use an online tool, instead of hand-drawing your pedigree, the Surgeon General has created an online tool to help you create a portrait of your family health history. This tool is web-based and is designed to help organize your family history information. You can then print it out for your family doctor.