Heart Disease

Your Family Heart Health History

Knowledge is one of your strongest weapons against heart disease.

Diseases of the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular diseases) can run in families. Therefore, knowing your family history can provide important information about your health risks. Talk to your family about their heart health history. Create a heart health family tree that you and your doctor can use today - and the next generation of your family can use tomorrow.

Creating Your Heart Health Family Tree

The first step is to talk to your immediate family:

Parents
Brothers and Sisters
Children

Next, reach out to extended family:

Grandparents
Aunts and Uncles
Nieces and Nephews
Half-Brothers and Half-Sisters

If possible, gather information about cousins, great-uncles and great-aunts. It's also important to include information on relatives who are deceased. Here is the type of information you'll want to gather:

What heart conditions have family members been diagnosed with? Proper names are best. Some examples include:

Aneurysm of a major blood vessel such as the aorta or in the brain
Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat)
Bypass surgery of a blocked artery in the heart or legs
Cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease or an enlarged heart)
Coronary artery disease
Diabetes
Died young or suddenly
Fainting episodes
Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)
Heart attack
Heart failure
Heart transplant
High blood pressure (hypertension)
High cholesterol
Stroke or mini-stroke
Sudden infant death syndrome

How old were they when they were diagnosed?

Is the family member a twin (identical or fraternal)?

Remember, your doctor may not be familiar with your family members. So it's also very helpful to provide information including each person's sex, age, ancestry (German, Moroccan, Japanese, etc.) and whether they're living or deceased. For those who are deceased, include how old they were when they died.

Turning Information into Action

Even though you cannot change your family history, knowing your family history can help you reduce your risk of developing heart disease. By talking to your doctor about your heart health family history, together you can look for red flags that might indicate the need for a prevention plan, preventive screenings and genetic counseling and potentially, genetic testing.

People with a family history of heart disease and related conditions may have the most to gain from screening tests and lifestyle changes. Your doctor may refer you to a specialist, such as a doctor trained specifically in genetics or a genetic counselor who can determine your genetic risks. Here are some examples of red flags that you can be "on the watch for" in your family history:

Red Flags

Heart disease at a young age in one or more close relatives (male before age 55 or female before age 65)

Heart disease in both your mother and father
Two or more close relatives on the same side of the family with the same or related conditions (heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure)
Sudden death in a relative who seemed healthy
A relative who has been diagnosed with a specific type of hereditary heart disease. Many types of cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease or an enlarged heart), arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), aneurysm and cholesterol disorders are hereditary
Two or more relatives on the same side of the family with a congenital heart defect

Additional red flags may exist and can be explored with your doctor or genetic counselor. By understanding your genetic risk factors, you and your doctor can take preventive measures that may save your life - and the lives of your loved ones.

Take Charge of Your Life

In addition to talking to your doctor about your family history, there are some additional things you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease:

If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke, don't start.
Eat a balanced diet low in sodium and high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, and lean meats.
Get active and exercise often.
Lose weight if you are overweight.
Manage your stress levels.
Take medications prescribed by your doctor to control conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Sample Family History Chart

This information is being reprinted with permission from the Medical Genetics Program at OSU Medical Center and the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital, 2009, and may be downloaded in brochure format.

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Last Reviewed: Jan 16, 2009

Amy Curry Sturm, MS, CGC
Certified Genetic Counselor
Medical Genetics Program
Division of Human Genetics
Department of Internal Medicine
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University