{"id":731,"date":"2011-12-15T12:28:12","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T17:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/genomics\/?p=731"},"modified":"2024-04-08T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T15:38:34","slug":"family-health-history-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdc.gov\/genomics\/2011\/12\/15\/family-health-history-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Health History and the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"family<\/a>During the holiday season, many of us will be watching our favorite holiday movies for the umpteenth time.\u00a0 Some of our favorites (according to Gayot, Moviefone\u00a0and Yahoo\u00a0 are Home Alone<\/a><\/em>, A Christmas Story<\/a><\/em>, A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/a><\/em>, and It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/a><\/em>. Most holiday movies seem to have relatives as central characters and family gatherings as a major theme.\u00a0 One of the reasons that holiday movies may be so popular is they remind us of our own wishes and fears.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We all have wishes and fears related to our family\u2019s health: \u00a0the hope that one of our nieces who is pregnant will have a healthy baby, or the fear that this may be the last time we\u2019ll be able to spend the holiday with our father, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. We\u2019d like to encourage scriptwriters and producers to consider including one or more scenes discussing and collecting family health history in future holiday movies.\u00a0 The scenes could involve families from any sociodemographic, ethnic, religious or cultural group, and could have any number of different holiday traditions.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re waiting for Hollywood to produce family health history scenes, we\u2019d like to encourage all families to create their own holiday tradition by taking time to collect, discuss, document, and share their family health history.\u00a0 Many of us will be visiting with our families this holiday, sitting together recalling and laughing about past holidays.\u00a0 This is the time we finally get to hear about a cousin\u2019s new job, an uncle\u2019s travels over the past year, and everyone\u2019s plans for the future.\u00a0 We may see a brother who is recovering from an early heart attack, or a grandmother with diabetes. It is also a time to remember those who are missing from the table. Remembering our loved ones builds connections to the past, especially for children in the family.<\/p>\n

Family discussions are important not only to strengthen our ties and support family members, but also for our own health and the health of our family members. Shared stories can be a starting point for gathering family health history information to share with a health care provider. Family health history offers signposts that might point to increased risks for various diseases. It is most important to know the medical history of first-degree relatives, including our parents, siblings, and children. The medical history of our grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews (second-degree relatives) and cousins (third-degree relatives) is also important.\u00a0 The US Surgeon General has created an online tool to capture family health history which can be found at: https:\/\/phgkb.cdc.gov\/FHH\/html\/index.html<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"three<\/a><\/p>\n

Important information to document includes:<\/p>\n