Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Family History
Your family history includes health information about you and your close relatives. Families have many factors in common, including their genes, environment, and lifestyle. Looking at these factors can help you figure out whether you have a higher risk for certain health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.
Having a family member with a disease raises your risk, but it does not mean that you will definitely get it. Knowing that you are at risk gives you a chance to reduce that risk by following a healthier lifestyle and getting tested as needed.
You can get started by talking to your relatives about their health. Draw a family tree and add the health information. Having copies of medical records and death certificates is also helpful.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
It sits within Genetics/Birth Defects and Wellness and Lifestyle.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Family History
244 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- A Longitudinal Study of Familial Hypereosinophilia (FE): Natural History and Markers of Disease ProgressionNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- NCI Childhood Cancer Data Initiative (CCDI) Led Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Rare Cancer Registry for Very Rare Solid TumorsNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Caregiving Networks Across Disease Context and the Life CourseNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
- Clinical, Laboratory and Epidemiologic Characterization of Individuals and Families at High Risk of Hematologic CancerNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Genetic Assessment of Breast Cancer Risk in Women in the DORA ProgrammeInstitute of Oncology Ljubljana
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients With Inborn Errors of MetabolismNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Research already completed
- Inherited Diseases, Caregiving, and Social NetworksNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
- Cardiovascular Evaluation of Patients With High Cholesterol and Normal VolunteersNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
- Cause of Familial Testicular CancerNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- About Family Health HistoryCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Why is it important to know my family medical history?: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Related Issues
- Genetics, Disease Prevention and Treatment FAQNational Human Genome Research Institute
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Family HistoryNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Medical History Taking. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Family History, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.