A new tool to help families capture and record their health history is now available through the Division of Medical Genetics at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The Family History form is a web-enabled program to help people organize family health history information which can be printed out for the family’s doctors.  It also helps users save that information as a computer file and share it with other family members.

Family history is considered one of the most important elements in assessing risk factors for health problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and certain psychiatric disorders.

For more information, or to obtain a paper version of the Family History form, contact the Division of Medical Genetics at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 701-777-4277, visit www.heartlandfamilyhistory.org or call Heartland Regional Coordinating Center at 1-888-881-8852.