Everyone has a unique set of inherited traits; maybe you have your dad’s silky black hair or your mom’s beautiful brown eyes. Now medical experts also say that one-third to one-half of your potential health problems may have their origins in your family’s medical history. And they agree that knowing this information will help keep you healthy and could help save your life.

Before you panic, understand that your family history does not automatically imply high-risk. It is very possible that a serious disease in your family is a chance occurrence, affecting your relatives in the same way that it affects the rest of the population and presenting little or no increased risk to you.

But all risk is a matter of degree. You are at greatest risk of getting cancer or other diseases if a first-degree relative has