When Elaine Powell's husband
started having heart problems, she remembered his father died of a heart
attack. That left her wondering if her husband had inherited a heart condition.
As a genealogist, Powell knew
where to find the answers.
Using death certificates and
obituaries, she built a medical family tree for her husband. It turned out his
family didn't have a long trail of heart disease. But that search inaugurated another
quest: Powell began researching her family's medical tree and discovered that
her paternal grandfather died of colon cancer in his 40s.
"I told my doctor, and she
told me that it was very important because they'll screen me early," says
Powell, 61, of Orlando.
Genealogy has long been used to
trace family histories, but now some are using it to learn whether they're at
risk for certain diseases.
"In some ways, family
history is the cheapest, most widely available and most proven type of genetic
test we have," said Dr. Alan Guttmacher, acting director of the National
Human Genome Research Institute. By considering family history, doctors can
look for inherited diseases and practice preventive medicine.
The notion is so popular that the
U.S. Surgeon General's Office has set up a Web site — familyhistory.hhs.gov — that helps people create a
medical family tree.
"Sometimes people think
genealogy is not very important, that it's just a hobby," says Drew Smith,
a Florida
genealogist who lectures about medical family trees. "And yet, we always
read about people who have illnesses and diseases that run in families. The
truth is, for some people, this is a matter of life and death.
Start by asking all your living
relatives how their parents and grandparents died. After that, it's time to
start searching for records. The best records, says Powell, are death
certificates, which usually list cause of death. You'd need as much of the
following information as you can find: the relative's full name, state where he
or she died, and city or county.
Your family's medical history
does not need to be traced that far back. For doctors and geneticists, it's
most important to include three generations: yours; your parents; and your
grandparents.”
