1. Family Health History
Health project

2. What is family Health history
This refers to information about disease and health conditions that affect you and your close blood relatives.
Family members share their genes and their environment, and sometimes their lifestyles and habits. A family health history helps determine if you are at an increased risk of disease because it reflects your genes and these other risk factors.

3. How can knowing help lower risk of disease
You can’t change your genes, but you can change behaviors that affect your health ( good habits start early in life) , such as smoking, being inactive, and having poor eating habits. If you have a personal or family history of chronic disease you may have the most to gain from making life-style changes.

4. Aspects of family health history affect my risk of disease
Everyone’s family health history is different. The key features that increase your risk are:
Disease that occur at an earlier age than expected (10-20 yrs most people get the disease)
Disease in more than one close relative
Disease that does not usually affect a certain gender (ex.. Breast cancer in males)
Certain combinations of disease within a family (ex. Breast cancer; ovarian cancer, or heart disease and diabetes)
Sometimes, a pattern of disease in a family may be a sign of a disease that is passed on from generation to generation

5. Layout of what is needed!
Transparent binder
Cover sheet
Table of content
Executive Summary- What's in this? Intro-hypothesis-procedure-brief conclusion.
Q&A list all questions and provide detail answers. (10)
Conclusion ( detailed)

6. Project Step 1- family information:
Yourself/ your parents/ your grandparents , your siblings and one uncle and one aunt on ( fathers brother & sister as well as your mothers brother and sister) on both sides.
Next to each family members name: write down everything you know about their health and medical history. (****Make sure you are respectful as these topics can be hard to talk about!!!!***)

7. Information to Include
Age or date of birth
Date of death for family
Even if these members have passed away
Height and weight
For those with medical problems: write down if obese, smoked, exercise habits, etc..
How old were they when they were diagnosed with condition
Where does each side of family comes from originally (ex.. England, Germany etc..)
Medical conditions such as:
Cancer
Heart disease
Diabetes
Asthma
Mental illness
High blood pressure
Stroke
Kidney disease
Birth defects (spina bifida, cleft lip, heart defect)
Learning problems or mental retardation
Vision or hearing loss at a young age
Known genetic conditions, like cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease

8. 10 Questions to ask your family
What traits seem to run in our family?
Did my family members have any health problems?
How old were my family members when their health problems started or were diagnosed?
How old were my family members when they died?
What were the reasons they died?
Where were my family members born?
Did any of my family members smoke? If yes, how much and for how long?
What lifestyles habits did my family members have ( good or bad)?
What types of allergies did my family members have?
What life style ( good or bad ) habits have been passed on to you ? How can these habits be avoided or be put into practice ?