Family Health History Tools and related medical studies about diseases that run in the family

From a November 5, 2010 American Society of Human Genetics news release

BETHESDA, MD – October 22, 2010 – Thousands of the world’s top scientists and clinicians in the human genetics field will convene to present their latest research findings at the American Society of Human Genetics 60th Annual Meeting, which will be held November 2-6, 2010, in Washington, D.C.

A number of scientific presentations at this year’s meeting will feature research on the application and use of family health history information in clinical settings to assess an individual’s risk for developing common chronic diseases. Family health history assessment is an inexpensive, simple, and useful tool that has been shown to be effective and accurate when implemented in clinical care settings to assess personal disease risks. Integrating the use of family health history information in clinical practice can help practitioners determine which patients are at high risk of developing a specific health condition and would benefit from taking precautionary measures to prevent disease (such as early and frequent screening, genetic testing, health behavior and lifestyle changes, etc.)…….

…Since National Family Health History Month is celebrated in November, ASHG will be spreading awareness about this important public health topic and helping people understand its application in clinical practice as a cost-effective tool for assessing disease risk by hosting a press briefing to highlight some of the latest research findings of interest on this topic that will be presented at the ASHG 2010 Annual Meeting.

Some Family Health History Tools

• My Family Health Portrait (US Surgeon General Office)

Using My Family Health Portrait you can:

• Enter your family health history.
• Print your family health history to share with family or your health care worker.
• Save your family health history so you can update it over time.

• Family Healthware (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  [currently in development]