What To Do

Make your family's health tree

 

How To Do It

Step 1:

Start with you and your immediate family. Write down what allergies, blood type, and health issues each family member has. Find out the answers to questions like:

 

What blood type are you?
What allergies do you have?

Do you have any chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, or high blood pressure?

Has anyone in the family had birth defects, learning problems, or developmental disabilities, such as Down's syndrome?

Have you had any major surgeries? If so, what for?

Have you had cancer? If so, what type?
Have you struggled with any addictions?

What other health issues have you experienced?

 

Step 2:

Contact your aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Let them know you are collecting information about your family’s health history.  Ask them the same questions as above. Find out what illnesses their late parents or grandparents had. How old were they when they died? What caused their deaths?

 

Step 3:

Collect the information you’ve gathered and put it into one document.

 

Step 4:

Print it out and put it with your other important documents such as your birth certificate.

 

Step 5:

Give your doctor and your family members a copy of the health history.

(Note – never publicly share anyone else's health information unless you have their permission.)

 

 

How Is This Family History?

Many health issues are genetically related. Knowing your family’s health history will better prepare you to know what health issues to look for, be checked for, and to be aware of. In case of an emergency having a document like this could help doctors and medical professionals better diagnose and treat a health issue, too.

 

 

Make Records.

Make History.

 

 

 

Additional Resources:

This is a free online template to create your family health tree. It will also help you learn about your risk for conditions that can run in families:

https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/FHH/html/index.html

 

This is another website that helps you easily document your family’s health tree and share it with your family: Tapgenes.com

 

Here are links for additional health questions to ask:

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/FamilyHealthHistory/

https://nihseniorhealth.gov/creatingafamilyhealthhistory/faq/faq9.html