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Michigan Ag News Headlines |
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Discuss Family Health History at Holiday Gatherings
Michigan Ag Connection - 11/20/2018
Relatives share more than brown eyes or curly hair. Chronic illnesses and other health problems also tend to run in families. Because of this, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is encouraging potentially lifesaving conversations
this Thanksgiving as part of National Family History Day.
"If one generation of a family has high blood pressure, it is not unusual for the next generation to have similarly high blood pressure," said Dr. Eden Wells, MDHHS chief medical executive. "Thanksgiving is a traditional time when families gather to share food,
conversations and stories, providing an important opportunity to discuss one's family health history."
Family health history is a medical history about a person's living and deceased relatives and should include background about a person's ethnicity. Using this information, health care providers can evaluate the risks for many disorders and chronic adult onset
conditions like hereditary breast, ovarian, and colorectal cancers.
Common diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes can run in families. In Michigan, approximately one in 10 women has a significant family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. Family members share genes, environment, lifestyles and behaviors,
the combination of which can determine the risk of common diseases.
Take time to learn your family's health history and then be sure to share this information with your health care provider. Based on your family health history, your health care provider will be able to evaluate potential health risks and recommend appropriate
screening or treatment.
A variety of materials and tools are available online to help you ask the right questions and collect information about your family's health including:
- MDHHS family health history fact cards, which can help guide the conversation.
- The Surgeon General's My Family Health Portrait tool, which can help individuals organize, print and share family history information with a physician.
- The American Cancer Society's genetics and cancer website.
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