U.S. Surgeon General Urges Spanish-Speaking Americans To Know Their Family Health History

WASHINGTON - Calling on all Spanish-speaking Americans to "know their family history," U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., announced the availability of an updated version of a free, computerized tool in Spanish, designed to help Spanish-speaking families gather their health information. In addition, he praised the National Council of La Raza's Institute for Hispanic Health (NCLR/IHH) for developing its own family history consumer outreach program for Spanish-speaking Americans based on the framework made available by the Surgeon General's Family History Initiative.

"I encourage all families to take time to collect important health history information that can benefit all family members," Dr. Carmona said. "Even with all the high-tech tests, medicines and procedures available in today's modern health-care setting, family health history remains the cornerstone of our efforts to prevent disease and promote personal health. It's clear that knowing your family history can save your life."

Health-care professionals have known for a long time that many diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, can run in families. A detailed family history can predict the disorders for which a person may be at increased risk, and help to develop more personalized approaches to prevent illness or detect it early, when it is most treatable. However, with doctors and nurses spending less time with their patients, sufficient family information is seldom gathered to make useful predictions. Read more at: www.genome.gov

If you have any questions for a family doctor, contact one of our Nebraska Family Doctors today.

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