Health and Productivity

Your family health history is an important indicator of your (and your childrens') risk for such conditions as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. With this knowledge, you and your doctor can plan preventively strategies to keep you healthy. After all, what happens to your satisfaction and productivity when you (or a family member) are ill?

Yet few of us have complete information at hand. Not only could it take a while to compile a family medical history in a health emergency, but if you wait too long, some of the family members who have the information will be dead, and the info lost to you forever.

The Surgeon General has a tool to help you assess your risks at www.hhs.gov/familyhistory . If you'll be seeing relatives this month, it's a great time to start collecting information on family health. For more help on what to ask relatives, and what's important to tell your healthcare provider, email me and ask for the Pharmacist's Letter handout.