Ancestry and Health: Using Family History to Identify Risk Factors

I wait forty-five minutes in the hospital waiting room just to have someone take my vitals. When I finally get in to see the doctor, I tell him that I have been experiencing severe headaches on the left side of my head. After some poking and prodding, the questions came. Do I have a family history of heart conditions? Any circulatory problems? Do any of my closer relatives have cancer? If so, what types? How about diabetes? I am a bit young for Alzheimer's, but we will make note of it anyway.

There is an exhausting list of health issues that run in families, and my doctor needs to know them. With heart problems, colon cancer, Alzheimer's, and mental health concerns on my father's side and multiple sclerosis, diabetes, breast cancer, and other mental health concerns on my mother's side, a headache could be more than a headache. Listing my family's medical history is just one way for a physician to narrow down the possible causes of an ailment. Now, being diagnosed with bipolar I and tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), conditions become easier to treat when there is a starting point.

For example, tachycardia can be caused by any number of things. These were slowly rules out. Tachycardia persisted even with the elimination of caffeine, prescription drugs, and other environmental factors. However, there is a tendency for tachycardia to run in families (Mayo Clinic), and my father's side of the family does have a history of heart problems. Tachycardia is a tremendous strain on the heart, especially at my young age, so I was started on a medication to slow down my rapid heartbeat.

Of course, knowing that there is a history of breast cancer on my mother's side does not mean that I do not need to worry about ovarian or cervical cancers. I am a newer generation, and I have been exposed to environmental factors that did not effect my ancestors. Knowing family history simply means that my physician and I know a few things to observe. I also know that I need to eliminate risk factors for things such as heart disease and diabetes. A family history is not a prophecy- I can use knowledge of past afflictions to improve my health today. A family medical history should be used like a weather forecast- if it is raining, take an umbrella or wear a raincoat, just in case it storms. If there is a history of heart disease, exercise, maintain a healthy wealth, and avoid tobacco products. Of course, having a clean bill of health historically is not an excuse to binge eat, kill your liver with alcohol, and fuse to the couch cushions.

When attempting to conceive a child, it is important to consider the genetic history of both parents. According to the March of Dimes, the following illnesses are thought to have at least some genetic component: Alcoholism, allergies, arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, bacteria pneumonia, emphysema, cancers, birth defects, dwarfism, heart attacks, high blood pressure, liver disease, hemophilia, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, Down's Syndrome, mental illness, muscular dystrophy, obesity, myasthenia gravis, Rh disease, sudden infant syndrome, Tay-Sachs,Thyroid disorders, glaucoma, cataracts, sickle cell anemia, stroke, suicide, migraine headaches, systemic lupus erythematosus. By looking at a family's health history, an individual can evaluate the risk of developing an illness or passing an illness on to a child.

It is important to me that I live a long life, but I also want to live a life that is not defined by the pains of illness. Knowing the genetic risk factors for certain illnesses will hopefully help me to live a life of quality,and the chances of this happening will hopefully improve as science continues to expand.

Resources:

For information on creating a family health pedigree, visit the Tennessee Genealogy Society's website. http://www.tngs.org/library/health_pedigrees.htm

March of Dimes. 2009. http://www.marchofdimes.com

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. 1998-2009. http://www.mayoclinic.com