HEALTHY LIVING
I
T WAS A BEAUTIFUL SPRING MORNING IN BOSTON, AND THE BRIGHT SUN STREAMING THROUGH THE BUDDING TREES COULDN’T DISPEL THE FEAR IN MY UNCLE’S FACE. MY NEWBORN COUSIN HAD JUST BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH A HEART CONDITION.
THE FAMILY MEDICAL HISTORY TREE:
ONE PATH TO HEALTHY SELF-KNOWLEDGE B Y
16 VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2
J U D Y
Y O U N G
For the moment, how and why this happened mattered as much to him as what could be done to help his daughter. As I considered how I might offer some measure of comfort, I heard my uncle say the word congenital, and I wondered who among our relatives might have had a similar problem. At the time, neither of us knew about the condition a number of my aunt’s relatives had inherited for five generations. While there are no guarantees concerning health or disease, some knowledge of your family’s medical history is important and, potentially, lifesaving. Dr. Peter H. Jones, a physician-scientist affiliated with the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, advises, “Initially, at least, you can begin a family medical history tree by summarizing the diseases, symptoms, and/or conditions of your immediate family, and then interviewing your extended family (e.g., aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) to determine the medical histories of three to four generations. In general, categories of information should include name; relationship of the relative to you; dates of birth and death; past/present health problems and whether they were inherited or developed over time;
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