http://hhs.gov/familyhistory/
U.S. Surgeon General's Family History Initiative
Health care professionals have known for a long time that common diseases -
heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - and even rare diseases - like
hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia - can run in families.
If one generation of a family has high blood pressure, it is not unusual
for the next generation to have similarly high blood pressure.
Tracing the illnesses suffered by your parents, grandparents, and other
blood relatives can help your doctor predict the disorders to which you may
be at risk and take action to keep you and your family healthy.
To help focus attention on the importance of family health history, U.S.
Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., in cooperation with other
agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has
launched a national public health campaign, called the U.S. Surgeon
General's Family History Initiative, to encourage all American families to
learn more about their family health history.
In addition to the Office of the Surgeon General, other HHS agencies
involved in this project include the National Human Genome Research
Institute (NHGRI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Health
Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
National Family History Day
Surgeon General Carmona has declared Thanksgiving 2004 to be the first
annual National Family History Day. Thanksgiving is the traditional start
of the holiday season for most Americans.
Whenever families gather, the Surgeon General encourages them to talk
about, and to write down, the health problems that seem to run in their
family. Learning about their family's health history may help ensure a
longer future together.
My Family Health Portrait
Americans know that family history is important to health. A recent survey
found that 96 percent of Americans believe that knowing their family
history is important. Yet, the same survey found that only one-third of
Americans have ever tried to gather and write down their family's health
history.
Because family health history is such a powerful screening tool, the
Surgeon General has created a new computerized tool to help make it fun and
easy for anyone to create a sophisticated portrait of their family's health.
This new tool, called "My Family Health Portrait" can be downloaded for
free and installed on your own computer. See
http://hhs.gov/familyhistory/download.html
The tool will help you organize your family tree and help you identify
common diseases that may run in your family.
When you are finished, the tool will create and print out a graphical
representation of your family's generations and the health disorders that
may have moved from one generation to the next. That is a powerful tool for
predicting any illnesses for which you should be checked.
For information on other activities of the Office of the Surgeon General,
please visit
www.surgeongeneral.gov.
For more on this subject, see:
http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/11/knowing-family-history-can-save-your...
Have a great Thanksgiving, Americans!
Valorie