Tracing Your Family Medical History

Tracing Your Family Medical History You know you got your curly red hair from your grandmother, and your prominent nose from your dad. These arent the only things you may have inherited from your family, however. Many medical conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, alcoholism and Alzheimers disease have also been shown to be passed down through families. What Is A Family Medical History? A family medical history or medical family tree is a record of important medical information about your relatives, including illnesses and diseases, along with the relationships among the members of your family. A family health or medical history is begun by talking with your immediate family members parents, grandparents and siblings as they provide the most important links to genetic risk. Why is a Family Medical History Important? Some studies say that over 40 percent of the population is at increased genetic risk for a common disease such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Understanding your risk for developing such diseases is an important reason to learn more about your family history. By knowing your risk, you can make informed decisions about prevention and screening, and even participate in genetic-based research aimed at understanding, preventing and curing disease. For example, if your father had colon cancer at age 45, you should probably be screened at an earlier age for colon cancer than age 50, the average age for first-time colon cancer screening. How is a Family Medical History Used? How is a family medical history used? A family medical history helps document familial patterns which may impact your health, such as trends towards specific types of cancer, early heart disease, or even something simple such as skin problems. Compiling a family medical history can help you and your doctor spot these family patterns and use the information to assist with the following: Diagnosing a medical conditionDetermining whether you may benefit from preventive measures to lower your risk of a specific diseaseDeciding what medical tests to runIdentifying other members of your family who are at risk of developing certain diseasesCalculating your risk of certain diseasesCalculating your risk of passing certain conditions to your children What Should Be Included in a Family Medical History? Going back about three generations (to your grandparents or great-grandparents), try to collect details on every direct family member who has died and the cause of death. Also, document the medical conditions of all family members, including the age at which they were first diagnosed, their treatment, and if they ever had surgery. Important medical conditions to document include: CancerHeart diseaseDiabetesAsthmaMental illnessHigh blood pressureStrokeKidney diseaseAlcoholismBirth defectsLearning disabilitiesVision or hearing loss For family members with known medical problems, make notes on their overall health, including if they smoked, were overweight, and their exercise habits. If a family member had cancer, be sure to learn the primary type and not just where it metastasized. If your family members came from a different country, make note of that as well, as some medical conditions have possible ethnic roots. How Should I Document My Family Medical History? Family medical history can be recorded in a similar manner to the traditional family tree, just using standard medical symbols in a pedigree format - squares for men and circles for women. You can either use a standard key, or create your own which specifies what your symbols mean. See Tools for Recording Your Family Medical History for more information, examples, forms and questionnaires. If you find the forms too complicated, just collect the information. Your doctor will still be able to use what you find. Remove any personal names from your work before giving it to your doctor or anyone outside the family. They dont need to know the names, only the relationships among individuals, and you never know where your medical tree might end up! My Family Cant Help Me, Now What? If your parents are deceased or relatives are uncooperative, it may take some real detective work to learn more about your familys medical past. If you cant get access to medical records, try death certificates, obituaries and old family letters. Even old family photos can provide visual clues to diseases such as obesity, skin conditions and osteoporosis. If youre adopted or otherwise cant learn more about your familys health history, be sure to follow standard screening recommendations and see your doctor for a physical on a regular basis. Keep in mind that the format and questions dont have to be perfect. The more information you gather, in whatever format is easiest for you, the more informed youll be about your medical heritage. What you learn could literally save your life!

Llano Estacado in the U.S. and Around the World

Llano Estacado in the U.S. and Around the World Llano Estacado literally translated from Spanish-to-English means Staked Plain, and it is a region at the southern end of the American Great Plains in the southwestern United States. The Geographical Region The Llano Estacado region  encompasses parts of  eastern New Mexico  and northwestern  Texas. It is marked by large mesas at elevations of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. One of its most popular landmarks is the Caprock Escarpment in Texas. Possible Historical Reference The settling of the western United States in the 1800s was known for its land runs with settlers on foot and horseback racing to claim lands by driving a stake into the ground. Llano Estacado may be a historical nod to the stakes or posts driven  into the ground in this region that were used as landmarks delineating property. Some suggest the plain was called Llano Estacado because it is surrounded by cliffs resembling palisades or stockades, which explains the definitions of palisaded plain or stockaded plain. The Caprock Escarpment is a 200-mile long cliff or palisade that delineates the border of the Llano Estacado region from the high plains.   Spanish Translation   Llano Estacado  can be translated to mean palisaded plain, stockaded plain, or staked plain. Llano is a direct translation for the word plain or prairie.  Estacado  is the past  participle  of  estacar. Estacar  is the verb meaning to tie to a post. Of the three possible translations, the three have very similar meanings. Many words in English are derived from Spanish words. The English word stockade comes from the Spanish word  estaca, so originally stockade and staked meant basically the same thing. The same can be said for palisade, it comes from the French word  palissade, meaning stake. The word palisade is related to the Spanish word  palo, meaning stick, which may be a close relation to the word stake. Non-American Spanish Speakers What does a native Spanish speaker not from the United States assume as the meaning for the term Llano Estacado? A native Spanish speaker would approach the term in the same way an English speaker would understand staked plain. As in English, it is not a common term, but it does evoke a certain meaning when you give the term some thought. The understanding of the term would likely be different for someone living in suburban Madrid than it would be for someone living on the plains of Argentina.