Here is an article about the importance of family health history. At the end of the article is free software you can download to record family health history.

Families Urged to Discuss Medical History


WASHINGTON (AP) - Medical officials are urging families to talk not just turkey this Thanksgiving but also medical history -
generations of it - to help identify breast, heart and other
problems early enough to prevent them.
``Knowing your family's history can save your life,'' Surgeon
General Richard H. Carmona said Monday. ``Thanksgiving is a perfect
day for talking about family history. ... You'll be amazed at what
you learn.''
That knowledge, recent genetic studies show, often means power
to predict and perhaps head off diseases prevalent in families even
before they appear.
To help catalog the information in a form that will save doctors
valuable time, health and genetic experts announced a free,
Internet-based computer program that compiles information about six
common diseases that often pass through generations including heart
disease, cancer and diabetes.
The software of ``My Family Health Portrait'' then prints out a
graphic that can help a doctor assess the risk factors for family
members and begin tests and treatment before any disease is
evident, officials said.
Genetic factors contribute to the cause, length and response to
therapy of almost every type of illness and are influenced by
abnormalities in DNA. So knowing family medical histories can help
doctors tell people the risks of certain illnesses that run in the
family.
While 96 percent of people think knowing such history is
important to their health, only about a third have ever tried to
catalog the information, according to a study for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in August.
The average doctor's visit is 20 minutes, which is too short to
interview a patient, record three generations of medical history,
assess disease risks and chart courses of action, said geneticist
Francis S. Collins.
``Family history is central to taking advantage of the new
genomic medicine, which is bubbling up all around us,'' said
Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
who was a leader of the Human Genome Project.
Carmona acknowledged that filing family histories carries
privacy concerns, such as the possibility an insurance company
might see the records and raise a patient's premium or deny
coverage. But family medical histories already sit in many
patients' files, he pointed out.
Additionally, a bill passed by the Senate and working its way
through the House would provide more protection by barring
employers from using people's family histories in hiring or firing,
Carmona said.
The family history initiative cost the government about
$300,000, mostly for printing and software, said Larry Thompson,
spokesman for the National Human Genome Research Institute.
The software can be downloaded at www.hhs.gov/familyhistory. A
print version of ``My Family Health Portrait'' will be available in English and Spanish at more than 3,600 medical offices nationwide.
Print versions also can be obtained from the Federal Citizen
Information Center at 888-878-3256.

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 01:17 pm:

Thanks for the info Ginny. I know my family has a history of "girl" problems, cancer (mainly lung, smoking???), and heart problems.

By Palmbchprincess on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 01:58 pm:

This always worries me. I don't know much about my biological father's side, and when I was pregnant they asked me if I wanted the Ty-Sachs (I think) test for people of Jewish descent. (My maiden name is Jacobs, but I'm not Jewish) So if you can find out, find out... better to know! Thanks for the info Ginny!

By Tink on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 02:17 pm:

This worries me, too. I know nothing on my father's side and my mom's side has all kinds of issues: heart conditions, hip issues, cancer (skin is the worst but also lung, all sue to smoking), some obesity, depression, etc. If it's out there, someone has it. Because there are so many concerns, we have typed up a list of the different issues and who had them for everyone so that we all have access to this. Nothing slips our minds and there aren't any frantic phone calls from family member to family member asking if something is in our history. Might be a good idea for others out there.

By Emily7 on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 02:20 pm:

I also don't know very much about my biological dads side. I met him once & then sadly lost contact again.