BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 25 (UPI) -- A University of Alabama genetics counselor advises taking advantage of holidays and other family reunions to get family medical history.
"The holidays are a great time to collect your family history," Lynn Holt, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Health Professions Genetic Counseling program, says in a statement.
"Most people don't know much about the family history beyond their first-degree relatives, their own parents and siblings."
Talk to grandparents or great-grandparents and make detailed records on their immediate family -- parents, siblings and children and jot down names, year of birth, year of death and any health problems that person may have had.
For example, ask if any siblings died during childhood. Many don't like to talk about a sibling who died young, but knowing if it happened -- and why -- can produce very valuable information for the entire family, Holt says.
"We sometimes hear people say they've been told their mother's brother dropped dead at age 20, for example," Holt says. "It's important to find out why; was it because of a genetic heart condition that you might have inherited, or is it simply that brother was guilty of some accident that nobody wants to talk about?"
Holt advises to ask if there is any cancer in the family, the kind of cancer and the age of first diagnosis. Ask the same things about heart disease, diabetes and mental health conditions, she says.
