There are several factors that contribute to a person falling prey to diseases/ health issues. A lot of them are external factors like environment, microorganisms, lifestyle etc. However, a chunk of these diseases can also be attributed to family history. Often if someone has, for instance, diabetes or cardiovascular disease, same is also likely to be passed on to offspring and further generations.
Role of family history in diseases is not limited to genes you acquire from your parents. Within same family, one has a propensity to adopt similar habits and be exposed to similar environment, which also become a contributing factor for life style disease.
People who have a close family member with a chronic disease may be at a higher risk of developing that disease than those without family member with such disease.
A family history of disease, apart from recoding instances of such disease in family, must also indicate when they were detected or what effect it had.
A person on of whose parents got diabetes at the age of 30 may be more likely to get diabetes at earlier age, vis a vis a person one of whose parent’s diabetes got at the age of 50 (other factors remaining same!)
Here are the risk of risk of inheriting certain lifestyle diseases based upon family history
| Father | Diabetes | Increases the risk of diabetes by 15% |
| Mother | Diabetes | Increases the risk of diabetes by 15% |
| Both father and Mother | Diabetes | Increases the risk of diabetes by 75% |
| Father | Hypertension | Increases the risk of Hypertension by 30 % to 50 % |
| Mother | Hypertension | Increases the risk of Hypertension by 30 % to 50 % |
| Both father and Mother | Hypertension | Increases the risk of Hypertension by 35 % to 65 % |
| Father | Heart Problems | Moderate Degree of Risk |
| Mother | Heart Problems | Moderate Degree of Risk |
| Both father and Mother | Heart Problems | Moderate to High Degree of Risk |
| Father | Cancer | 2% to 3% risk in inheriting cancer (Remember that cancer is common among the age of 60 and above and is less likely to be inherited) |
| Mother | Cancer | 2% to 3% risk in inheriting cancer (Remember that cancer is common among the age of 60 and above and is less likely to be inherited) |
| Both father and Mother | Cancer | 2% to 3% risk in inheriting cancer (Remember that cancer is common among the age of 60 and above and is less likely to be inherited) |
While there is not much one can do about the genes inherited, there is a lot one can do in order to adopt a healthier lifestyle and reduce the risk of several lifestyle diseases
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eKincare’s Wellness Score takes into account 15+ parameters including family history and provides a consolidated score which can be an indicator of your overall well being. This helps you get actionable insights on the areas you need to focus on in order to improve your health.
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