Why you should discuss family health history at the table this holiday season – NorthJersey.com

Jessica Baladad shares how her family's history told her she needed to go hard on cancer

Jessica Baladad, the founder of Feel For Your Life, shares how her family's history made her think she would one day get cancer, and that she would fight as much as she could.

Henry Taylor, Nashville Tennessean

Its not over yet.

The coronavirus has taken more than 5 million lives worldwide and has heightened health concerns. However,knowing your family's health history has always been important.

The holidays are approaching, and for those who will have the privilege of being around family, dinner-table talkabout sports, politics and social issues ispar for the course.Its also an opportune time to start asking (sometimes tough) questions that could directly affect certain health decisions throughout your life.

Dr. Vipul Bhatia is the medical director of continuing carefor WellSpan in central Pennsylvania. He specializes in internal medicine and said knowing your familys health history can be ablueprint for medical professionals.

The family history can be used as a diagnostic tool and can also help guide decisions about any kind of testing that the patient or the rest of the family will need.

Certain diseases are hereditary and chronic. Being able to share that information with doctors can help them address preventive measures sooner. For example, 5% to 10% of breast cancers are thought to be hereditary, which means they come from passed-down genes.

The pandemic, Bhatia said,has almost eliminated a go-to option for getting a family's health history. Normally, it's retrieved through a group exercise withthe patient and family members who are with them at the hospital.There are still guest and visitation restrictions in hospitals that leave the patient to answer certain questions alone. Knowing family health history "can shape the type of care that the individual receives and the timing of it, Bhatia said.

COVID booster shot: With demand for boosters low, Murphy says NJ may waive eligibility requirements

Your ultimate Thanksgiving guide: What to buy, cook, eat and drink

Bhatia reflected on his own family's health history, mentioning that a couple of members were diagnosed with colon cancer at a very young age.

"Someone with that type of family history [means]the colon cancer screening procedure, such as a colonoscopy,starts at a younger age compared to the general population."

A delay in early screenings could affect preventive measures and a diagnosis, if any, because of that strong family health history.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when asking about your familys healthhistory:

Not sure how to keep track of all of this information? The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionhas an online resource for recording your familys health history. My Family Health Portraitwill allow you to enter information over time and keep it stored. Its free, and you can update itand print and share with your family.

Popular family history resources like Ancestry.com and 23andMe exist, butgetting the information firsthand from relatives is preferred.

No one really wants to have this conversation, but knowing a person's last wishes or advanced care planning has become even more important during the pandemic. WellSpan refers to the process as "horizon planning," which is having a plan in place if you become too ill to make your own medical care decisions.

Communicating this planto medical professionalscan make a difference in the type of care you receive, Bhatia said.

Jasmine Vaughn-Hall is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Region How We Live team. Contact her at jvaughnhal@ydr.com or (717) 495-1789. Follow her on Facebook (@JasmineVaughnHall),Twitter (@jvaughn411), and Instagram (@jasminevaughnhall).

Read more:

Why you should discuss family health history at the table this holiday season - NorthJersey.com