Researching family history is not only interesting but important. Seniors often take on the task of researching the “family tree” and happily share their information with others.
If you are interested in genealogy you are probably eager to begin, but take your time and put first things first. Start by researching your family medical history. You may think this sounds boring when you want to dive right in, but do yourself a favor and start here anyway.
Your family health history (the conditions that your relatives have, had, or died of) provides clues about what you can expect regarding your own health. You and your relatives not only share many of the same genes but often adopt similar health habits. With the right knowledge you may be able to sidestep your genetic destiny.
Researching medical details, including mental health and pregnancy complications, is a big project. Your goal will be to collect health conditions, ethnic background, age and cause of death for at least three generations of blood relatives.
The best place to do this at those family reunions that you hate so much. Go anyway. The women in your family will gladly fill you in on everything you want to know.
You may not like what you learn but having this information can benefit you in many ways. Preventive strategies such as routine screenings, diet modifications, exercise or medication can make a difference.
• Ask for health histories from relatives closest to you, and then move to the previous generation and so on.
• Research: get copies of death certificates or medical records, family diaries, military records, immigration papers and obituaries.
• Delve into physical and behavioral illnesses such as alcoholism, depression, mental diagnosis etc.
This may not be as easy as it sounds because back in the day people didn’t go to the doctor very often. Be alert for subtle clues; an amputation might point to diabetes, “bad blood” might have meant anything from anemia to syphilis. Look at pictures for signs that a relative might have had osteoporosis or other telling birth defects.
Start with your “medical family tree’ before worrying about whether Uncle George was an Earl or Aunt Susie came over on the Mayflower.
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