Health 4 Life
We all know that saying, “if you don’t know where you come from, then you don’t know where youre going”. The same principle applies to your family health history.
Your Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions that run in your family. Your family health history includes the genes you share and have in common with your loved ones. In addition, you may also share similar health behaviors, such as being active and what you like to eat.
Knowing your family health history is the first step in living a long, healthy life. Although your genetic make up is not something you can change, you can however change your health and lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, being sedentary, and your nutrition habits. So, let’s control what we can control when it comes to your health!
If you have a family health history of disease, it is important to consider key lifestyle changes you may need to make and to develop a plan to stay up to date on your health screening tests. You can begin by adopting healthy living habits, which can reduce your risk for diseases that run in your family. Screening tests, such as blood sugar testing, mammograms, and colorectal cancer screening, help find early signs of disease. Early detection of any disease can save your life!
Take Action Now!
While you can’t control the genes you inherit from your family members, you can control what happens to you as a result of them.
Get to know your family in a different way. Start by writing down the names of your close relatives from both sides of the family: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Talk to these family members about what conditions they have or had, and at what age the conditions were first diagnosed. You might think you know about all of the conditions in your parents or siblings, but you might find out more information if you actually ask.
What you can do
The sooner you understand the link between your family’s health history and our own, the sooner you can make changes and take steps to be more proactive and take control of your health and well-being. You can start by creating your Family Health Portrait. Use this free and easy to use online tool to help you collect your family health history information. You can share your information with your family members and doctor.
Use the Take Action for Health Tool to get started. It will help you create personalized booklets to start conversations about health in your family and community.
