Free tool: Charting your family health history

Happy Thanksgiving from Providence Regional Cancer System.

While Thanksgiving has traditionally been (and will continue to be) about giving thanks and celebrating family we’re pretty excited about the Surgeon General’s declaration of Thanksgiving Day also being National Family History Day. It is the hope of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that families start to talk about their family health history. What better place than the Thanksgiving table! Well actually, we can think of better places, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you talk.

A recent survey found that 96 percent of Americans agree about the importance of knowing their family history…yet the same survey found only 1/3 of those same Americans had ever tried to write down the facts. 

Health care professionals have known for a long time that common diseases - heart disease, cancer, and diabetes - and 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. Reference >>

The great news is the surgeon general has made it incredibly easy to compile this information in one place using their My Family Health Portrait Web tool. The secure website asks the same health information your doctor would ask, creates a "pedigree" specifically for you, gives you the chance to download it and then deletes the information. Yes that's right. The government does not keep a record of what you typed in.

So this Thanksgiving, enjoy your turkey (or your tofurkey), sit down with your family and talk about your health history ... it could be the greatest gift you ever get and give.