All of us are aware that we can reduce the risk of getting chronic diseases by getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and introducing exercise in our daily routine. However, most of us aren’t aware of the fact that your family history is one of the mightiest influences on your health risk of developing diabetes, cancer, heart attack, or stroke. Though you cannot change your genetic markup, knowing your family’s health history can help you reduce the risk of developing severe health problems.
Apart from sharing habits, lifestyles, and environment, family members share genes also. Recognizable traits that run in the families are easier to identify, such as dimples, curly hair, or leanness. But diseases that run in the family cannot be recognized with the appearance. Everyone shares a different family’s health history.
How a Physician Uses This Information
Family’s Health history helps the physician at medical clinics to find any pattern of certain medical conditions in the patient’s family. Besides, it helps to identify what screening and preventive care, do the patient needs. Knowing the complete history of the patient’s family health can help provide early warning signs of severe disease and direct the physician in prescribing proper screening and diagnosis. Moreover, the physician can use history to recommend some lifestyle changes to live a healthier and disease-free life.
Learning About Your Family History
In order to learn about your Family Health History, you can do the following:
- Ask questions
- Look at the family’s medical records and death certificates, if possible.
- Collect information about your parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, and nephews.
You may require collecting primary medical conditions, cause of death, ethnic background, and age of onset of disease. It is better to write down the information that you receive and share it with your doctor. The physician you are consulting will assess your family medical history and recommend screening tests and changes in lifestyle to detect and prevent the diseases.
Consequences of Non-Disclosure of Family’s Health History
For a lifelong wellness plan, knowing your family’s medical history is essential. Even if you don’t have a severe disease running in your family history, you could be at a specific risk. Non-disclosure of the medical history of the family can lead to trouble for the patient’s life. Because:
- Your family’s medical background, lifestyle, and other factors influence the chances of getting a disease.
- There might be a member who dies when you were not born with chronic medical conditions, including stroke, cancer, or heart disease, and that you might inherit in the future.
A disease that you develop maybe a sign of an inherited form of the disease is passed on in your family from generation to generation that you aren’t aware of. Therefore, everyone must be aware of the diseases or health conditions that run in your families.
If you or your closed ones are suffering from some inherited health conditions, then it is essential to pay a visit to a doctor. You can search by 24-hour medical clinics near me and walk-in to the nearest emergency room.
24 Hour Emergency Room in Houston
Each Life Savers Houston Emergency Room location is equipped to handle life threatening conditions quickly. Your emergency or concern is our priority! Life Savers 24 Hour Emergency Room is your Houston Emergeny Room for immediate definite care. Do not hesitate to call us today or stop by one of our 24 hour houston ER locations: Willowbrook Emergency Room, Heights Emergency Room, or Summerwood Emergency Room.
