Down with disease

One of the things I dread most about visiting a new medical office is having to fill out all of the paperwork. Now that I have children, it's even worse because our visits and referrals to specialists are much more frequent. The part of the form that gives me the most trouble is the "Family History" section where you are expected to list all of the various genetic diseases and conditions that have plagued your clan. How much of my family should I include? Are we really susceptible to high blood pressure or does my uncle just eat way too much fast food?

One thing that I've resolved to do is try and gather as much information from my relatives as I can so that we can share this vital knowledge. If we find that a certain disease is prevalent in the family tree, we can let our doctors know about it. That can be a tremendous tool in preventing or diagnosing a problem. I've got a leg up on this that most people probably don't have, because I run a family genealogical website for my paternal family. Currently, roughly 90 family members have registered at the site and I can blast off emails to all of them at once. That may sound like a lot of relatives, but my great-grandfather had 16 children that lived to adulthood and they averaged just a hair over 4 children each! In fact, there are nearly 400 living descendants of my great-grandfather Raven, so I've still got plenty of work to do in getting people to sign up.

Of those that are participating in the website, it's been like pulling teeth to get them to contribute their information. Some have actually said that they don't want their medical information on the website. If this website were open to the public (and insurance companies), I could understand their concern, but this is a private site that is only accessible by family members. I think the benefits that could be gained by pooling this information together far outweigh any embarrassment anyone might have over having the rest of the family know about their health condition. We are all family, right?

Since people aren't volunteering any information on our private forum, my great-aunt Minnie is polling family members one-by-one and compiling the list now. We will post it on the website and not name any names, but it's too bad that we have to do that because it would be nice to know how closely related you are to the people with the illnesses. I'm hoping that once people see the list and maybe better understand the benefits of sharing this information, that they'll loosen up and participate more. I've seen the draft copy already and I'm definitely letting my doctor know how common colon cancer is in our family when I go in for my annual physical. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths, but polyps can be found before they become cancerous if you have your colon checked in time.

Genealogy has always been just a fun hobby for me, but now that I've shifted my focus from long-dead relatives to the living, I'm seeing its value in a new light. I think it is time to start a family website for my mother's side, too.

Comments

[Lisa Belisle]

Wow, what a great resource for your family! I'm definitely going to recommend this one to my patients.