Nutrition Tips For Women

It’s time to take a family portrait. We’re not talking about a literal one, but about a figurative one. What can that be? A Genetic Family Portrait. If you have a close family member who died young and you’re nervous about whether you are also prone to the same thing, it’s time to find a genetics counselor. The Chicago Tribune discusses what it’s like:

One of the first things a counselor will do is ask about your family’s health history over at least three generations. How old were your parents when they passed away, and what illnesses did they have, the counselor will want to know. Did your aunts and uncles have similar medical problems? What about your brothers and sisters, your cousins, your grandparents, your children? What do you know about their health?

Details help

The more detail, the better. Each nugget of information is a clue to patterns of disease that might circulate in your clan. With these clues, medical experts at least have some idea where to look for evidence of potential genetic problems. “Until we get tests for every gene, it helps to know where to look, and the family history is the best tool we have right now to tell us that,” said Suzanne O’Neill, a clinical researcher at Evanston Northwestern’s Center for Medical Genetics.

If you’re like most people, you probably have no idea which relatives had heart disease or diabetes or when these illnesses started. The holidays are a good time to begin asking these questions, experts say. In fact, for the past four years, the U.S. surgeon general’s office has suggested that families begin to compile health histories between chowing down on turkey or sipping eggnog.

Check with family historian

In many families, “there tends to be someone, usually an older woman, who is the family history keeper; that’s a good place to start,” said Joann Boughman, executive vice president of the American Society of Human Genetics.

For the computer-savvy, the Surgeon General offers an online tool, “My Family Health Portrait,” (familyhistory.hhs.gov), an easy way to organize the information you gather and create documents that you can store at home or take to your doctor. Another good resource is “Does It Run in the Family” published by the Genetic Alliance, a coalition of advocacy groups (geneticalliance.org).

There’s no guarantee these conversations will be easy. Some relatives won’t want to discuss what they consider personal matters. Explain that you’re trying to help everyone stay healthy, the surgeon general’s office advises. For instance, in families with lots of colon cancer, people may want to start getting colonoscopies at age 40 instead of 50, the usual age when these screenings start.

Being sensitive to different family traditions and dynamics is important, said Sharon Terry, president of the Genetic Alliance. The organization is investigating culturally appropriate ways of taking family health histories in 10 communities.

Genetic counseling is becoming more and more accessible and popular. It should not be a scary ordeal, but rather a wise approach to becoming less frightened and more in tune with your health.