If you're not in touch with biological relatives, your loved ones history can be challenging to follow.
For some adoptees, as well as for people who don't know and have access to their biological relatives, tracking down a household medical history can be a struggle.
Donna Cunningham, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New york employee, has spent years attempting to fill in the blanks of her own family health history. Her mom and dad met in an orphanage as children, having both lost parents in a early age.
“It's like putting together a puzzle with many from the pieces missing,” she said. “I have only bits of information about my grandparents. My dad's mom died when he was 5 years old, and that he always said that it was cancer. But he was just five. He wasn't sure what sort of cancer.”
To have more information, Donna found more information about her family-birth dates, death dates-through genealogy websites. Then she searched for her grandmother's death certificate, which revealed the reason for death as breast cancer.
On the other side of the family, Donna was able to ask relatives the things they remembered about her maternal grandparents. Out of this she learned that her maternal grandmother struggled with mental illness.
It's not a truth, but she has a few key information. Understanding that depression runs in her own family, she's gone to counseling and is more aware of her mental health. And since her dad's mother died of breast cancer, she doesn't miss a mammogram.
“It's been helpful for my doctor to understand which i do not have my full family health background,” she said. “We pay a lot more attention to the screening schedule and stay current on those. I simply do what I can to be my healthy best.”
Where do DNA tests come up?
For people like Donna, helpful information on identifying family health information are restricted. The CDC supplies a checklist for adults seeking to collect their family health history, however it assumes they've use of biological relatives.
If you are adopted, the CDC recommends contacting the adoption agency or perhaps your state's health and social services agency to discover how you can access medical records. If you know what they are called of your late relatives, you may also check state and county records, newspapers and local libraries to look for obituaries.
Beyond that, few avenues exist to gather genetic health information.
Enter at-home DNA tests, which have exploded in the last decade. For some people, these at-home tests offer a few of the first insights to their genetic disease risks, all for around $200.
In recent years, the FDA has approved some at-home kits to assess genetic risks for any number of conditions, including Celiac and Parkinson's disease. However the FDA also says you will find limitations to these direct-to-consumer tests:
- A positive test could cause unnecessary stress and alarm
- A negative test could persuade folks to forgo regular screenings and checkups
- People might not understand their results with no doctor's interpretation
- Not all tests provide useful health information for everyone
- These tests can't definitively say whether you will create a condition
The FDA encourages individuals to discuss their results with a doctor. An adverse result doesn't invariably mean you won't create a certain condition, along with a test showing increased risk also doesn't mean that you'll definitely develop that condition. Therefore it is important to put the results into context with the aid of a principal care doctor.
In some situations, your doctor might refer you to definitely a professional for genetic testing to look for mutations in your DNA.
If you've symptoms of a genetic condition or want to learn much more about your risk, talk to your doctor about whether dna testing is right for you.
Preventive care can save or prolong your lifetime.
Whether you realize your full genealogy or are just beginning to uncover some good info, maintenance can save lives. Preventive care includes screenings, services and counseling to help prevent illness or disease. Everything from your annual flu shot to nutrition counseling falls under this category.
Most of this care can come from your doctor. Getting a primary care doctor who you trust is key to good overall health. (If you need assist with that, see our guide for selecting doctor who's best for you).
Let your physician know if you have a known family history of certain conditions. Knowing you've got a family history of certain cancers, the CDC says, your doctor might recommend you begin screenings at a younger age or get them done more often.
If you do not have a full health background, that's important information too. Your physician will help you identify healthy lifestyle habits to reduce your chance of many hereditary diseases.
A note from Blue Cross NC
With Blue Cross NC, you will never be charged extra for maintenance by having an in-network doctor. Speak to your doctor about which maintenance services you ought to have based on your health and genealogy.
You may be surprised these 10 services are covered free of charge under Blue Cross NC plans. Benefiting from these types of services will help you stay healthy or identify disease sooner.
For a full listing of preventive care services covered at 100%, review our maintenance pages for men, ladies and children. Click the items to see any limits or exclusions.
If you are a Healthy Blue member, see what benefits are for sale to yourself on the Healthy Blue website.
If you have questions, you can always call the amount around the back of the insurance card.
