Hello, health enthusiasts, and welcome to Rev Up Health, your go-to podcast for all things wellness. I'm Dr. Mark Hechler, and I'm Tandi Hechler. Together we're here to fuel your health journey with the best of functional medicine and holistic well-being. Each episode, we'll dive deep into topics that matter to your health, bringing you the latest insights, research, and inspiring stories. Whether you're on a quest for vibrant health or just looking for daily health tips, we've got you covered. So let's embark on this journey together and transform the way you live. So, Tandi, what's on our wellness radar for today?
Hello, hello, and welcome to the Rev Up Health Podcast. We're so glad you're here. I'm Tandi, and I'm Dr. Mark, and today we're going to talk about family medical history. Our question for you is: if you were to go to the doctor today and they asked for your family medical history, how detailed would you be able to be in answering those questions?
How many of you know your history of cancer genetics, and ideas of things like that? For instance, there are a lot of patients who come to see me who have thyroid disease, and I ask questions about whether there's a family history of thyroid disease, and they simply don't know — or they may have heard, "Well, I had a relative that had something with their thyroid," but they don't remember what it was.
Why Family History Matters
I think this is an important topic, and it actually came up pretty recently with a patient who was talking about our medical history questionnaire. It's a functional medicine questionnaire, so it's very in-depth and asks a lot of questions about family history. They said they had to go and start asking questions, and they actually found out a lot of things they had no idea about — and this person was in their 30s. That says a lot about the kinds of conversations we're having in our families and how we share this information.
I think it's very much a change in culture from what we used to have. When I was growing up, we didn't really talk about mental health at all, and that's a lot more prevalent today. I handle the mental health conversation with my kids much differently than my parents did with me.
Genetics is a pretty important influence on our health history — what happened in your grandparents, or your great-grandparents, as well as your own immediate family. Those things are important to determine: are there certain types of cancer screenings I need to be aware of, or certain types of cardiovascular disease I need to be aware of, to know how I need to conduct myself, or what I can do to avoid certain things or change the outcome?
Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny
The other thing, backing up just a smidge — genetics is just giving us an idea of things to be aware of. Your genes are not your reality. A lot of times your genes can say one thing, but the way you handle your life, what you're exposed to, and those environmental things are really what will either create those outcomes or not.
So where I was going with that initially: if we know you have a family history of really any type of cancer — but specifically those cancers that have early detection screenings — you would start those screenings earlier than if you didn't have a family history. Or, being aware of the fact that if you have heart disease in the family, maybe I need to be more proactive with exercise, avoid certain foods, or change my lifestyle, which could delay or even avoid the inevitable outcome.
Menopause Is Part of Your History Too
The other thing I wanted to address is that your medical history isn't really limited to disease processes. Another piece of your family medical history, especially for females, is menopause — how menopause went for your mother, or your mother's mother. This is another thing I believe we've been very lax in passing down generationally. A lot of folks don't have those conversations, and when you do think to ask those questions, it may be past the time when your mom can really explain those things to you.
A lot of things, we were just made to think, "That's just how it is. This is just what it's like to get older, or to go through menopause. This is just how it is" — not knowing that there really are things we can do, and we don't have to suffer, so to speak. The average age of menopause is 51, and it ranges anywhere from the 40s to the 60s, so menopause can start at about any age, and women will have variations and different types of symptoms related to that. Menopause is one of those things that can definitely be part of the question, and most of the time people don't really see that as part of their family medical history.
Mental Health and Heredity
The other piece is the mental health question. There are mental illnesses that are hereditary — some of those are autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizophrenia. And then there are other mental health issues that could stem just from the environment. If you live in a family where addiction is prevalent, then that could be a learned coping mechanism that we need to be aware of, so you can work through that and find different coping skills. Mental health is a big thing that needs to not be skipped over when you're having these conversations. It's really helpful to have them, and oftentimes we find out that we aren't alone in our experiences and our feelings.
How to Start These Conversations
So how do we initiate these conversations and sit down with our family members to just start talking? I think the best thing is to come from a place of curiosity. Health issues — whether they're physical, mental, whatever — can be delicate, and sometimes people have a hard time talking about their experiences. If you come from a place of curiosity and make sure your family member knows this isn't a place of judgment, I think you really can spark these conversations and get people feeling comfortable.
It really is going to be a sharing of information both ways. Not only is it important to hear what your parents' experiences were, but it's also a good idea to share your experience with your parent. Especially in our situation, we're going to be having these kinds of conversations with our kids, and hopefully we get to a point where that is the norm, where you're sharing those things.
These open conversations can also spark that family member to think about their own health. It's like, "Yeah, I guess I do need to go in and get that colonoscopy done," or "I do need to have that mammogram done, because Aunt Sally or Uncle Tom had this or that." So you can actually get them to start thinking about their own health, as well as being more aware of your own.
A Questionnaire to Get You Started
As we were talking about this idea of starting a conversation around health history, we thought it might be helpful to have a little questionnaire, slash conversation starter, that you could use. So we've created one for male and female, along with a table where you can keep track of the answers you find out, so that you have that and can answer those health history questions when they come up.
If you have an interest in that and just want to initiate your own conversation in your own family and be more aware, you can go to our website at revelationhealthandwellbeing.com and contact us, and we can provide you a link to that information — those questionnaires — and help you initiate your discussions. That way, you all can have more of an open healthcare knowledge. We'd love to hear about your experiences, whether it's about how the conversation went or ways you've learned to share your health history with your kids.
We sure appreciate you listening in. I hope you've learned a little something and gained a little insight, and at this point we hope you can have more health and more knowledge and determine what you need to do to take the next steps. We appreciate you joining us today. Have a healthy day.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Rev Up Health. We hope you're leaving with some valuable insights to supercharge your health journey. Don't forget to follow or subscribe to Rev Up Health wherever you listen to your podcasts, and if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. Have a topic you want us to explore? Reach out to us on our social media channels — we love hearing from our wellness community. Until next time, keep thriving, and remember: your journey to health is a journey to a better you. Stay well, and we'll connect with you again soon. This is Tandi, and this is Dr. Mark, signing off from Rev Up Health. Take care.
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The content is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient and their healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your healthcare regimen, including diet, exercise, or treatment plans. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Revelation Health and Wellbeing.