HEALTHHealth histories can be part of holiday sharingThe surgeon general is encouraging Americans to find out more about their families' medical histories.By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. Nov. 22/29, 2004. This Thanksgiving, when family members are gathered around to feast, they may attempt to get more information out of older relatives than just the secret recipe for sweet potato pie. And they might take what they learn to their primary care doctor. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, MD, MPH, has declared this year's holiday the first annual National Family History day and is urging families to use the "My Family Health Portrait" software available at no cost from the surgeon general's Web site to gather relatives' medical data. The software then advises patients to take the information to their physicians. "Knowing your family's medical history can save your life," wrote Dr. Carmona, on the Web site. The project is the outgrowth of extensive work by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies to attempt to harness the increasing knowledge of the human genome to benefit patients. "The Family History Initiative is meant to be a screening tool," said Paula Yoon, ScD, MPH, team leader for the CDC project. "We're trying to identify the moderate-risk people who are probably the majority of the population and really get them engaged in healthier lifestyles that are going to make a difference." [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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