New Study Uses Medical Records to Find Genetic Conditions and Disease in Family Trees

Your medical records are important documents that track your health over time. Taken as a standalone file, these crucial documents have many benefits—like allowing your physician to provide informed care. However, in conjunction with other family medical records, you can begin to predict the risk of genetic conditions and diseases that allow doctors to take a proactive approach to care. Utilizing medical records, researchers have uncovered a new method in predicting disease risk.

Utilizing Centrally Stored Data to Construct Family Trees Laced With Medical Data

All medical facilities house similar information, like contact information, addresses, names, and emergency contacts. This commonality is what sparked an idea with a group of researchers. By utilizing this centrally stored data, they were able to construct a web of family trees laced with medical data to predict disease risk with accuracy.

Researchers took emergency contact information—which tended to be a blood relative— at a specific hospital and cross referenced it with other patients that had also visited the hospital. They found that over one third of emergency contacts had also visited the same hospital. This meant a web of medical records that were able to be constructed into family trees by cross referencing phone numbers, addresses, and names. By overlaying patient medical information obtained from medical coding in the records, researchers were able to track the genetic implications of certain diseases. This new approach has a profound impact on how genetic predispositions are studied and tracked.

Encouraging Results to Combat Genetic Predisposition

Collecting family medical histories is more difficult than you think as interviewing patients is often unreliable. Most people don’t know or remember that heart attacks or diabetes were prevalent in their family. Some aren’t aware that their great grandparents both died of cancer or that their parents are on medicine for high cholesterol or blood pressure. By lacing together family trees and overlaying medical information, you can take a more detailed look at the true risks threatening your health. This approach not only keeps you informed, but it can assist your doctors in combatting issues before they arise.

Order Medical Records Can Help Locate Medical Records

If this has inspired you to construct your own family tree with regards to medical history, Order Medical Records can help. The only way to ensure that you have accurate and up to date information is to construct your family medical history with medical records and not base it on memory or family interviews. If you and your family need help to obtain copies of medical records, we can help. Our ordering process is simple, easy, and quick. From the comfort of your own home, you can request your medical records online and have them delivered in as little as two days. When it comes to your health, you can never be too vigilant. Visit us on the web at Order Medical Records today to order copies of your medical records so you can start building an informative family tree.