Cragun told Parade that age at onset is a major focus when medical professionals assess genetic risk.
A heart attack in middle age, for example, prompts clinicians to look more closely for a hereditary link, while breast cancer diagnosed in middle age is relatively more likely to involve genetics than the same disease appearing in old age.
Most people remember only that “Grandpa had heart disease” or “my aunt had breast cancer,” without further detail, Cragun said. A recent nationwide U.S. survey found that about two-thirds of respondents had difficulty gathering their family health history, and roughly three-quarters of them said they had lost contact with relatives or that family members had died.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends learning relatives’ health histories, including the approximate age when symptoms began or a diagnosis was made. Even rough answers such as “early 40s” or “around 60” carry reference value, the CDC said.
Cragun offered three methods for building a fuller picture:
- Ask specific questions. Instead of “Did Grandma have cancer?”, ask “About how old was Grandma when she was diagnosed?”
- Ask several relatives, since different people remember different details, including the age symptoms began, the age at death, and what else was happening in the family at the time.
- Check documents such as obituaries, death certificates and past medical records when relatives have died.
Cragun also advised looking past immediate family to grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, half-siblings, cousins and other relatives, since limiting attention to the closest kin can hide patterns of disease in the family.
Confirming exact diagnoses matters too — “cancer” and “heart disease” are broad categories, so asking which type or which organ was involved helps. Mental health and addiction history deserve attention as well, though stigma can make relatives reluctant to discuss them, Cragun said.
Even incomplete information counts: after detailed questioning, Cragun herself learned only in 2017 that her family had a history of heart disease.
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