Friday, March 2, 2012

Health Benefits of Doing Your Family history

It has been 2 weeks since my last post. Alot has happened in my family since the last time I visited my blog to write. It is a very sad time for my family right now. We lost a very beautiful young woman last Friday to a terrible disease, known as Cystic Fibrosis. She was a bright shining light, who always had a smile on her face, and an amazing amount of courage. She fought a lifelong battle that very few can truly understand. I am dedicating this post to honor her memory.
Even though we, as humans cannot predict our future, as far as our health is concerned; it is indeed very helpful to have an insight to hereditary diseases carried or introduced by our ancestors. With the current advances in medical technology, scientists are slowly discovering that there are spcific genes or cells that will identify particular diseases. Stem cell research is still in it's infancy, but in time, the hope is that, cures will be found.
Through my several years of research, collecting family death certificates, I have been able to trace some of the many serious health problems to specific family lines. When we visit our doctor's and they ask us for our family medical history, we do the best we can, providing what we have been told verbally. However; if we can be more detailed, and specific in that information, it can only benefit us and the next generations that follow.