How to trace your families health history

Hereditary diseases are passed on from one family member to another, from one generation to another. As children inherit the fathers blue eyes or brown hair, they can also carry their parent's diseases in the genes. Genes and chromosomes actually exist in pairs, and form at conception. These will form the traits in our children and their children.

Cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome are two of the most common diseases affecting hundreds of children. By tracing your family health, you could prevent your children from suffering the same fate.

There may have been learning difficulties, or birth defects through your family. Your doctor could also benefit from having details of all your families medical history.

Where do I start? Why not start with your immediate family, write down everything you know about yourself, husband, and your children's health. Do not leave anything off. Then think back to your life as a child. What operations, illnesses, diseases did your mother and father have. If it is too late to ask them, ask their doctor. You will need to explain why you need this information. Under the privacy act, some things are not available.

Finding this information could prevent the cancer or diseases before it is too late. If your grand parents had a stroke and your mother had one then it is almost certain to happen to their siblings. Prevention is better than the cure. Blood disorders can be traced back to our parents. Hemolytic anemia is a breakdown of red blood cells. Leukemia is another Blood disorder and can be cancerous. A simple blood test can normally detect these.

You could search through your family records for a Death certificate it will show the causes of death. You would then know if members of your family died from cancer, heart attack, or stroke.

Check out Ancestry.com they have all the facilities to search the relative certificates you need. http://www.ancestry.com.au/search/

This is another good site. Cyndi's list http://www.cyndislist.com/dna.htm

This site is for the UK http://www.your-family-history.com/

By obtaining Death certificates, it will give you confirmation of why the person died. There is a charge of approximately thirty dollars to purchase them. This will depend on the currency of your country.

When you find all the information, make copies, and share them with the rest of your family. Ask them to add any other illnesses that you have not listed. Discovering an illness before it strikes is a great source of prevention