Family history (medicine)
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In medicine, a family history consists of information about disorders from which the direct blood relatives of the patient have suffered. Genealogy typically includes very little of the medical history of the family, but the medical history could be considered a specific subset of the total history of a family.[citation needed] Knowledge of your family history can help identify a predisposition to develop certain illnesses, and enable you to avoid triggers in your environment.
Uses
Although often neglected,[1] many healthcare professionals glean information on family morbidity of particular diseases (e.g. cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disorders, mental disorders, diabetes, cancer) to assess whether a person is at risk of developing similar problems.
Family histories may be imprecise because of various possible reasons:
- Adoption, fostering, illegitimacy and adultery
- Lack of contact between close relatives
- Uncertainty about the relative's exact diagnosis
- In complex situations, a family tree or genogram may be used to organize the resulting information.
Some medical conditions are carried only by the female line, and tracing female ancestors can be difficult in societies that change the woman's family name when she marries. Death records often give the maiden name of the deceased, and possibly also the deceased's mother’s maiden name. Some of the most useful records for tracing women are wills and probate records.
Other medical conditions are carried only by the male line. Tracing male ancestors may be impossible if the conception is due to rape or sexual activity outside of a marriage.
Consequences
Not all positive family histories imply a genetic cause. If various members of the same family have been exposed to the same toxin, then they may develop similar symptoms without a genetic cause.
If a patient has a strong family history of a particular disorder (or group of disorders), this will generally lead to a lower threshold for investigating symptoms.
In diseases with a known hereditary component, many healthy people are now tested early to prevent the symptoms from developing. This has become accepted in cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis and various other disorders.
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- ↑ Rich E. C., et al. (2004) "Reconsidering the family history in primary care" in: J Gen Intern Med 2004;19:273-80. PMID 15009784.
