Summary of GeneTests Database Analysis

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Family History is Important for Your Health
The U.S. Surgeon Generals Family History
Initiative
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What determines your risk for disease?
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Risk Factors

• A risk factor increases your risk of
  developing a disease or health problem.

Environment
Behaviors and lifestyle
Genes
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Risk Factors for Disease
Environment
Environmental risk factors include exposures to
harmful agents in food, water and air.
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Risk Factors for Disease
Behaviors and lifestyle
Behavioral and lifestyle risk factors include
poor diet, lack of physical activity, smoking,
abuse of alcohol, and failure to get recommended
screening tests.
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Risk Factors for Disease
Genes
Genes provide the directions for building all of
the proteins that make our bodies function. Genes
are passed down by parents to their offspring.
Some genes may not function properly leading to
disease.
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Risk Factors for Disease
Genes, environment, and behaviors interact with
each other to cause disease.
Behaviors
Interaction
Genes
Environment
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Risk Factors for Disease
Family history helps capture the effects of
these interactions on disease risk.
Behaviors
Family History
Genes
Environment
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What is family history?
A familys combination of shared genes,
environment, behavior, and culture
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We all have a family history of something!
depression
heart disease
asthma
leanness
high cholesterol
kidney disease
cancer
diabetes
Alzheimers
allergies
obesity
blue eyes
stroke
curly hair
high blood pressure
emphysema
arthritis
osteoporosis
acne
athleticism
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Family history is a risk factor for diseases
throughout all stages of life
diabetes depression
Alzheimers disease osteoporosis
birth defects blood disorders
infants
adolescents
older adults
children
adults
cancer heart disease
asthma autism
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How can your family history help you?

• Learn about diseases that run in your family
• Take advantage of screening tests that can detect
  disease at an early stage when it is most
  treatable
• Change unhealthy behaviors such as smoking,
  inactivity and poor eating habits

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How can you collect your family history?

• Ask questions
• Talk at family gatherings
• Draw a family tree
• Write down the information
• Look at death certificates, family medical
  records, etc.

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What information do you need?

• Major medical conditions and causes of death
• Age family member developed disease and age at
  death
• Ethnic background
• General lifestyle factors like heavy drinking
  and smoking

Example
Uncle Bill smoked cigarettes since he was a
teenager, had a heart
attack at age 52
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What relatives should be included?

• you
• children
• siblings
• parents
• grandparents
• aunts and uncles
• nieces and nephews

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What should you do with the information?

• Organize the information
• Share it with your health professional
• Keep it updated
• Pass it on to your children

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How health professionals organize family history
grand-parents
grand-parents
parents
aunts uncles
siblings
you
children
nieces nephews
To learn to draw a family tree like this, go to
http//www.nsgc.org/consumer/
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What will your health professional do with the
information?

• Determine your risk for disease based on
• - number of family members with the disease
• - the age when they were diagnosed - how you
  are related to the family member
• Consider other disease risk factors
• Recommend screening tests and lifestyle changes

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An example
Shirley wonders about her risk for diabetes
Both of Shirleys parents developed diabetes by
the time they were 60
Shirley knows she doesnt always eat right and
she is overweight. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall
and weighs 175 pounds.
With these risk factors - family history,
overweight, poor diet should Shirley be
concerned about diabetes?
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An example
Shirleys Family History
Shirley has heard that diabetes can run in the
family, so she asked her health professional to
assess her risk.
Shirleys doctor Family
history Assessment recommends
Diabetes Strong Risk - losing weight, eating
a healthy mother, 43 yrs diet and
increasing physical activity father, 59 yrs
- regular blood sugar screening uncle, 50 yrs
(fathers side) aunt, 59 yrs (fathers side)
Heart Disease Moderate Risk - losing
weight, eating a healthy mother, 66 yrs
diet and increasing physical activity uncle, 68
yrs (mothers side) - regular cholesterol
screening - regular blood pressure
screening - possibly take aspirin
regularly
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An example
How did Shirleys family history help her?
She learned that she had increased risk for
diabetes and heart disease. Her family history
was a risk factor, in addition to her weight.

• Shirley started getting more regular screenings
  for
• blood sugar
• blood pressure and
• cholesterol
• She talked to her health professional about
  losing weight through healthy eating and physical
  activity programs that were right for her.

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People with a family history of disease may have
the most to gain from lifestyle changes and
screening tests!
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Do people care about their family health history?

• In a CDC-based survey of over 4,000 individuals
• 97 thought that knowledge of family health
  history was important
• But, only 30 had actually ever collected health
  information from relatives to develop a family
  health history.

Healthstyles Survey, 2004
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Goals of the U.S. Surgeon Generals Family
History Initiative

• Increase awareness among the public and health
  professionals of the value of family history for
  disease prevention.
• Provide new tools to gather information, assess
  risk, and guide prevention strategies.
• Increase genomics and health literacy.
• Prepare the public and health professionals for
  the coming era in which genomics will be an
  integral part of regular health care.

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A free web-based tool for collecting family
history, available in both English and Spanish,
can be accessed from www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/
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My Family Health Portrait Print Version

• Free print version also available in English and
  Spanish
• Call 1-888-275-4772 or visit www.ask.hrsa.gov

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U.S. Surgeon Generals Family History Initiative
A collaboration of the following federal agencies
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Family History Resources

• U.S. Surgeon Generals Family History Initiative

www.hhs.gov/familyhistory

• CDC, Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention

www.cdc.gov/genomics/public/famhist.htm
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Prevention is Primary Create Your Familys
Future!