Your Family Health History Log

Family Medical Information

There's much you can do to keep yourself healthy and lower your risk for many common yet serious illnesses. A healthy, moderate diet; exercise most days of the week; regular health screenings; avoiding unhealthy habits such as smoking—all these actions can help you steer clear of cancer, heart disease and more.

But there's another risk factor that requires consideration—your family health history. Many common causes of illness and disability are thought to be passed from generation to generation. Your best defense: information. Armed with the knowledge that one or more of your blood relatives had osteoporosis, for example, alerts you to pay special attention to calcium in your diet, the importance of weight-bearing exercise and the value of discussing bone density screenings with your doctor.

Following is a chart listing many of the health conditions for which heredity is considered to be a factor. Has anyone in your family been affected by these disorders? If so, who and when—at what age—is valuable information to you and your doctor. Review the conditions running down the left side of the chart. Then run down the list of blood relatives across the top of the chart. For each relative who has been diagnosed with a particular health condition, enter the person's age at onset in the appropriate box. Keep this log and continue to add new entries as developments warrant, paying special attention to any patterns that may emerge. And be sure to copy this chart—updated regularly—for your physician's file.