While it's not as vital as knowing about a family member's genetic tendencies, other types of information may also be useful to your doctor:
- It's wise to record each relative's age and gender. Include the relationship that makes him a blood relative (your nephew is the son of which sister?).
- How old was the family member when first diagnosed (or had symptoms of) one of the listed problems? How old was he when he died? Did he die of that listed health problem?
- What kind of build did he have? Slender? Overweight? It might give a clue about his habits and why he developed one of the listed problems.
- Were there additional risk factors such as smoking? A job that exposed him to toxins?
- What kinds of immunizations did the family member have? As time goes on, this becomes more important. It can also be quite interesting to see what older family members may have contracted that were prevented by immunization in later generations. (A good example is polio.)
