Deck the halls with parents and in-laws, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and college kids. The Christmas travel season is here! The holiday season offers many opportunities for your family to come together to eat, drink, and be merry. There’s also ample time to gather and share your family health history.
Whether you live in the same town, state, or even country, you and your family share genes, similar heritage, and background, which can influence your risk for health problems. Regardless of age, everyone at the family dinner table can benefit from understanding the family’s health history.
For starters, before and during pregnancy, it’s essential to know if your or your spouse’s family has a history of congenital disabilities or genetic disorders. Understanding the significance of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, or certain cancers in your family gives you the gift of early awareness and screening.
For instance, if you have a strong family history of early-onset heart disease, it’s advised that you start checking your cholesterol at age 20. For women, your doctor must know if you have a close female relative diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50. Other cancers with heightened genetic connections include ovarian, prostate, bowel/colon, or melanoma skin cancer.
The holidays are meant for a time of cheerful conversations and catching up.
You may be wondering how to dive into a topic that can be personal or feel invasive. The Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait is a free web-based tool to help you and your family collect and organize health information. This online resource also makes it easy to share information with distant and future relatives or with your doctor. But a good ole pen, notebook, and a few good questions will also get all the information needed to stay on top of your family’s health.
Begin by listing the blood relatives you need to include in your history. The top priorities are your parents, siblings, and your children. Next, talk with grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins and half-siblings. If able, ask older family members about the health conditions of relatives no longer living.
Making a list is an excellent way to get organized and spot gaps in communication that may need to occur. Once you know who in your family to talk with, some questions to ask are:
- Have you managed chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol?
- Did you or a close loved one experience cancer or a stroke?
- Do you live with food or substance allergy or intolerance?
If yes to the above, find out more details. How old were you when you were diagnosed? What signs or symptoms caused you concern?
This can be awkward, and you might not want to start quizzing families about their health history in front of a crowd, but it doesn’t mean it’s not potentially life-saving information. If nothing else, think about who in your nuclear family you know the least about and find a way to initiate an informative conversation.
This year, while you’re home for the holiday, take time to collect some data about your family’s health history. Then, share that information with your doctor to help make 2025 your healthiest year!
Try these easy-baked pears if you’re looking for a yummy treat to make the conversation sweeter. Even if you’re familiar with your family’s health history, give these a try!
Easy Baked Pears
Ingredients
Four pears
ground cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts
honey
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare pears by slicing them in half lengthwise with the seeds removed. Slice a small piece off the rounded side of each pear half so that it will sit flat in the baking pan. Place pears in an oven-safe baking dish.
3. Sprinkle each pear with the cinnamon.
4. Top each pear half with chopped walnuts, about 1-2 teaspoons.
5. Drizzle (don’t drench) honey over the pears.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. You want pears firm but see some expelled juice.
7. Allow the pears to cool. Serve hot with ice cream (optional). You can also allow it to cool completely, cover, and refrigerate. You can eat chilled pears with vanilla yogurt.
