DAY 11,

"Knowing My Family Health History

Saved My Life" A Personal Story

Ms. Jackson,* a retired African American woman residing in the Washington, D.C. area, began researching her family history as a curious little girl when she inquired about her great-grandmother’s picture on the wall. As an adult, she decided to dig deeper into the past of both sides of her family. Ms. Jackson learned that her family had a history of heart disease for generations. Here, she tells her story of how she survived heart disease by knowing about her family health history. (*Her name has been changed to protect her privacy.)

Q: How did you start researching your family health history? A: I knew my grandmother died in her 70’s of heart disease. My dad died of the same thing at 42. As I started to gather death certificates, I found many listed heart disease and stroke as the cause of death on both sides of the family. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about genetics. But it struck me as strange that everyone died of the same thing.

Q: When did you begin to have health problems?

A: I started having problems with my blood pressure when I was in my early 20’s. From that point on, I told my doctor about my family history on both sides of my family. Because I gave her this information, she tailored my treatment. She treated me for hypertension. Had I not known a lot about my family health history, she may have taken a different approach.

Q: How did knowing your family health history save your life? A: As a part of my treatment, my doctor scheduled me for stress tests every so often. On one occasion, when I went into her office for my regular checkup, she was going through my chart and said, “I think it is about time for you to have

a stress test. I want you to go and have it done soon.” I had a stress test before, so I didn’t think

of it as a big deal. I was unusually exhausted during the test. When I received my results, my cardiologist showed me where I had a blockage. I knew about certain things they could do like inserting stents and bypass surgery. My mother’s relatives had these procedures done, so they were familiar to me. Two weeks later, I was on an operating table having open heart bypass surgery.

When I went back to see my doctor and she looked at my stress test results, she mentioned the term “myocardial infarction.” I told her, “Wait a minute, are you trying to say I had a heart attack?!” She said, “Yes.”

At the time, I had no idea I was having a heart attack. What I do realize, looking back, is that I had gained more weight than usual. When I would come upstairs from the basement with a laundry basket, I would feel a little winded, but I put it off, telling myself that I really need to lose weight. Then, I remember I had a strange, cool sensation in the top part of my chest. Now, I am more educated about women’s heart attack symptoms. I know the signs.

Q: How did you share the information you learned about your family’s health? A: I told all my relatives that they should be more aware of what they are doing and what they are eating. Our parents didn’t know any better, so we ate a lot of fatty, fried foods. But now, the younger generation can train their kids to eat healthier. Heart disease changes your whole life. Would I love to eat what I want? Absolutely. I love to eat. But I believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.6

Planning for a Healthy Future

"Heart disease was traced back to my grandfather ... My mother, brothers, and I suffer from heart disease. It has changed my outlook on life."

Thomas, Washington, D.C.

Genes, Environment & Health:

How are they related?

Your Genes: The “Stuff” You Are Made Of

Has someone ever said to you, “It’s in your genes?” They were probably talking about a physical feature, personality trait, talent, or illness that you share with other members of your family. Genes are biological instructions that you receive from your parents that guide your growth and development. They influence the way you look as well as how your body works on the inside. This is why traits, such as height, eye color, and certain diseases like cancer can also be passed along in a family. Genetics is the study of genes and heredity. Heredity is the passing of genetic information and traits from parents to children. You inherit your genes from both your parents.

Your Environment: Where You Go and What You Do

Your environment consists of all of the things you come into contact with on a daily basis. Your environment and way of life can affect your risk for getting certain diseases. It is important to know what factors in your environment increase your disease risks so that you can take steps to reduce those risks. You can change unhealthy habits such as eating too much fast food or smoking, to help you live longer and feel better.

Your Health: Connecting Genes and Environment

An illness like sickle cell disease is a genetic disease that can occur when both parents carry the sickle cell trait, or when one parent has sickle cell anemia and the other parent carries the sickle cell trait. More common health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer involve genes, but may also be caused by a number of factors that are influenced by how and where you live. Family members sometimes get the same diseases because they share their genes and environment. We do not fully understand how genes and the environment interact to cause disease.

Until more is understood about gene-environment interactions, knowing about your family health history is the best way to learn about and reduce your risk for diseases that run in your family.

Sited from:March of Dimes

 http://www.marchofdimes.com/2011CGEN_FamilyHealthHistory_AfricanAmericanCommunity.pdf

Today in class EXIT TICKET: WHAT did you learn from creating your family health history tree?