Knowing Grandma’s health history could help you improve your own.

May 30th, 2008 at 04:49pm Deborah Austin

You may have researched your family tree — but what about your family health tree?

Beloit Memorial Hospital media coordinator Sarah Starmer recently alerted me to a new computer program from the U.S. Surgeon General that helps you create such a tree. The program is called “My Family Health Portrait,” and it helps you track factors such as heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and colon cancer in your own family history.

Family health history is one of the most important risk factors for chronic illnesses in your own life, said Larry Bergen, director of cardiovascular services at Beloit Memorial.  The risk is in your genes as well as your family’s shared lifestyle and habits.

You can’t change the genes, but you can change risky health behaviors like smoking and poor eating habits, Bergen said.  And if you have a family history of certain chronic diseases, you could benefit greatly from screening tests for those diseases.

The free program “My Family Health Portrait” can be maintained online at https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/  or you can download it onto your home computer at http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/download.html.

Beloit Memorial Hospital also has a Family Health Tree brochure you can request to receive in the mail.  If you’re interested, call the hosptial’s community relations department at 608-364-5206.

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