Why your doctor needs to know about your relatives' illnesses, and how to find out

Some conditions run in families: heart and blood vessel disease, diabetes, some types of cancer. If your doctor knows about them, they can order the right tests earlier.

Ask your parents, brothers and sisters, and grandparents what they have had and at what age it started. Write the answers down in one place and bring them to your appointment: an exact age and diagnosis is more useful than a vague “something with the heart”.