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Family history (medicine)
 
 
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In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, a family history consists of information about disorders that a patient's direct blood relatives have suffered from. Genealogy
Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigree of its members....
 typically includes very little of the medical history
Medical history

The medical history or anamnesis J - jaundice T - tuberculosis H - hypertension & heart disease R - rheumatic fever...
 of the family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
, but the medical history could be considered a specific subset of the total history of a family.

ough often neglected, many doctors glean information on family morbidity of particular diseases (e.g.






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In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, a family history consists of information about disorders that a patient's direct blood relatives have suffered from. Genealogy
Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigree of its members....
 typically includes very little of the medical history
Medical history

The medical history or anamnesis J - jaundice T - tuberculosis H - hypertension & heart disease R - rheumatic fever...
 of the family
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
, but the medical history could be considered a specific subset of the total history of a family.

Uses

Although often neglected, many doctors glean information on family morbidity of particular diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular diseases refers to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the Circulatory system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis ....
s, autoimmune disorders, mental disorders, diabetes
Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus , often referred to simply as diabetes , is a syndrome of disordered metabolism, usually due to a combination of genetic disorder and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels ....
, cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
) to appreciate whether a person is at risk for developing similar problems. Use of a genogram
Genogram

A genogram is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships....
 can be helpful in a family history, which is in the format of a family tree.

Family histories may be imprecise because of various possible reasons:
  • Adoption or illegitimacy
  • Lack of contact between close relatives
  • Uncertainty about the relative's exact diagnosis


In complex situations, a family tree
Family tree

A family tree is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms....
 may be necessary to cover the necessary aspects.

Consequences

Not all positive family histories imply a genetic cause. If various members of the same family have been exposed to the same toxin
Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms. For a toxic substance not produced by living organisms, "toxicant" is the more appropriate term, and "toxics" is an acceptable plural....
, then they may develop similar symptoms without a genetic cause.

If a patient has a strong family history of a particular disorder (or group of disorders), this will generally lead to a lower threshold for investigating symptoms.

In diseases with a known hereditary component, many healthy people are now tested early to prevent the symptoms from developing. This has become accepted in cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is a Genetic disorder affecting the exocrine glands of the lungs, liver, pancreas, and intestines, causing progressive disability due to multisystem failure....
, hemochromatosis and various other disorders.

Web-based Family Health History Tools


Surgeon General [https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/ My Family Health Portrait]

ItRunsInMyFamily.com [https://secure.itrunsinmyfamily.com/ Family Health History Tool]