Family history possesses valuable information about a person’s past and future life. It can be used as a powerful screening tool to help conduct decisions about genetic testing for you and family members at risk. Family history can identify potential health problems that an individual has an increased risk for in their lifetime. With early identification, you can begin taking steps to reduce the risk with things such as lifestyle changes of diet and exercise. In many cases, just by adopting a healthier lifestyle can reduce your risk for diseases that run in your family.
Your genetic information determines the genes you inherit that may cause or elevate your risk of certain medical conditions. My family genogram clearly indicates the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), heart disease (HD), hypercholesterolemia (HC) and hypertension (HTN). Heart disease is indicated on both maternal and paternal side and even though T2D only shows on my paternal side, the other diseases such as HC and HTN that are on my maternal side are risk factors for developing diabetes. According to Pessoa Marinho et al. (2013), the genetic and environmental risk factors that influence T2D development are: “age, gender, ethnicity, family history, obesity, inactivity, gestational diabetes, macrosomia, hypertension, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, increased triglycerides, cardiovascular diseases, micropolycystic ovary syndrome, high blood glucose on previous testing, impaired glucose tolerance and glycated hemoglobin ≥5.7%” (Pessoa Marinho et al., 2013, p. 570). Bianco et al. (2013) states, “the maternal influence confirms the hereditary role in the diabetes pathogenesis that women with positive family history to the illness presented...
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...es of developing these diseases. While a family history provides information about the risk of specific health concerns, having a family history of certain medical conditions doesn’t mean that you will develop the same conditions. Disease is not imminent, by developing lifestyle changes your health can be controlled and risk lowered by changing behaviors that increase your chances.
Conclusion
A family medical history can reveal the history of disease in your family and allow you to identify patterns that might be relevant to your own health. These conditions are influenced by a combination of genetic factors, environmental conditions and lifestyle choices. It is impossible to change family history or genes, however knowing that certain diseases run in your family can be an incentive to decrease any other factors that when put together, further increase the risk.
· genetics: occasionally the disease has a tendency to run in certain families (inherited or genetic predisposition), but this is not common.
...s exist as an inherited disease in some families. The majority of case studies show that the patients affected have no family history of the disease.
All nurses, no matter where they practice, need to have proper training in genomics and genetics to provide the best information to clients regarding recognition, prevention, and/or treatment of diseases (Thompson & Brooks, 2011). A genetic family history can help clients discover the unique patterns of health and illness within their family. In this paper, I will complete a Genetic/Genomic Nursing Assessment using the information found in Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, & Hanson’s text (2015) in Box 7-7 (p. 198), identify three generations of a family, analyze the genetic health risks, and consider nursing strategies for this family.
In the novel Survival of the Sickest, the author, Dr. Sharon Moalem researches the diseases of today in order to show that they are not accidental. Most genes or traits are passed down because they are needed to survive. This poses the question, why do diseases get passed down as well? These diseases are passed down from generation to generation in order to help keep the body safe from other threats. Some examples of “helpful” diseases are hemochromatosis, diabetes and favism. Though, like all diseases, they can be harmful. However, in the long run it’s possible that they can save someone’s life.
Like the world around us the medical field is always changing. It is always pushing forward, trying to understand mysteries of the human body that have boggled researchers for decades. What confuses scientists more, are the organisms or conditions that create these abnormalities that can send the human body into a downward spiral. Disease is something that has affected human civilization since the dawn of time. It can either be chronic or acute, but in either case it has the potential to bring havoc to the human body systems that can lead to devastating consequences. Generally there are two main types of diseases, ones caused by invading pathogens and those which are hereditary. One hereditary disease that can be particularly tragic is cystic fibrosis.
There are many types of genetic tests that are administered to the adult population. The more commonly used genetic tests are paternity tests, genealogical tests, and forensic testing. They are quite self-explanatory; paternity tests are to determine relatedness of 2 subjects, genealogical tests are used to formulate a heritage or ancestry, and forensic testing is used to identify or rule out a person that has been charged with a crime. Other genetic tests include presymptomatic testing, used to determine the risk someone has to developing a genetic disorder, diagnostic screening, used to rule out or identify a suspected condition, and carrier screening, used to determine if an individual carries one copy of a gene mutati...
disease is known to be passed on from generation to generation in several cases, yet
What is Familial hypercholesterolemia and how familial hypercholesterolemia can affect you a person? Familial hypercholesterolemia is an inherited condition that can lead to problem within your heart. This genetic disorder can cause high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels that begins at birth and can led to a number of heart attacks for a person at a young age. We all need some cholesterol to work certain things in your body properly but if you have way too much cholesterol in your blood stream it will start to build up in the walls of the arteries and cause an increasing chance of you getting heart disease. If a person’s have familial hypercholesterolemia they have levels of LDL cholesterol which means that your liver
A genetic family history assessment contains information about family structure and relationships. A typical nurse will use a three-generation family pedigree to gather the information. By doing so, nurses can be aware of which family members are at risk for disorders from a genetic component. Therefore, they can be provided with lifestyle advice, recommendations, and referrals to appropriate specialists (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco & Hanson, 2015). A genetic family history assessment will be provided about my family.
The purpose I searched for my family health history was to see what complications may occur in my future or in my family. There are a couple of benefits behind me researching the diseases throughout my family history including that I can learn what is prevalent which may put me at risk of contracting it, it can help me change my lifestyle to prevent or lower my chances, and help me prepare for what may arise. The diseases that are most prevalent my family that will most likely affect me or my brothers and sisters are Diabetes, Migraine, High Blood Pressure, and High Cholesterol.
In this paper, I will be discussing my family health history as illustrated in the disease family tree. What is family health history? Family health history refers to a collection of information about diseases that run in your family, as well as the eating habits, activities, and environments that your family shares. The knowledge about diseases in your family can help you make healthy choices. One’s family history can affect one’s health in different ways since we inherit many things from our parents and grandparents; genes passed on to you from your parents can determine your health. Some genes can increase one’s chances of developing certain diseases but it can also depend on the type of environment, life style or behavior, geographical
Genetics play an important part in the development of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The most common of the two types of diabetes is type 2. Type 2 diabetes is being observed in the younger generation. It has becoming increasingly common in younger children, but the genes that are responsible for causing it are scarcely defined.("Genetic Factors in Type 2 Diabetes") What we do have well knowledge of is that the disease is a result of one gene mutating. In type 2 diabetes many genes are said to be involved in the developing of the disease, we just are not sure which gene it is that is being mutated.(1,4) However, the risk of having the disease is affected by your siblings or parents having it. Immediate relatives to individuals with type 2 diabetes are at higher risk of getting the condition rather than a person with no relative with diabetes. If the mother of the father has diabetes then the grandchild has a fifteen percent risk of having type 2 diabetes, but if both the father and the mother of the offspring have diabetes then the offspring's risk would increase by seventy-five percent chance of being affected with the condition. On the other hand, if the offspring were to have a sibling that was a non-identical twin with diabetes it would have a ten percent chance of being affected, but if it had an identical twin the risk would increase by ninety percent. Type 2 diabetes is known to run in families, but as to how it is inherited is not really specified. Scientists think that some environmental factors act as accelerators to diabetes, increasing the development. Some genes, known as susceptibility genes increases the risk of developing diabetes to individuals that carry the genes. ("Diabetes and Genetics") A way to find this gen...
I have learned a lot more about my family by completing this project. I knew my grandma divorced my mom’s biological dad right after my mom was born, but I did not know they were married for less than a year. I also learned that the only reason they got married in the first place was because in order for my grandma to finish high school while being pregnant she needed to be married. Overall, my family does not have many health concerns. My dad’s mom has high cholesterol and so does my dad. I need to be careful as I get older and keep track of my cholesterol levels. My mom had part of her thyroid removed because she had a benign tumor on the gland. Knowing alcoholism runs in my family I need to be careful and know the warning signs
Everyone inherits their genes from their parents. James Nasmyth once said that “Our history begins before we are born. We represent the hereditary influences of our race, and our ancestors virtually live in us.” This is true because we are made of cells and each cell contains inherited DNA. Our DNA carries genetic information we inherited from our ancestors, but the environment we live in can affect this DNA. Nonetheless, testing our genomes can provide information for differentiating between the traits we have inherited from our ancestors and those that the environment shaped.
Family history is very important to an individual. By knowing where you come from, you can have a better perspective of your life. Having a clear understanding of your family background allows you to better appreciate the things that you would normally take for granted. The house, the car, and the average clothing may look better when one sees the sacrifices their family has made. They will see that their family has worked very hard just so their family can experience the better things in life. A persons roots and origin is one of the most important things to explore. It alone can bring you closer to self-discovery.