Nearly nine in 10 GPs (88%) told researchers for Norwich Union Healthcare that their patients need to know more about hereditary conditions that run in their family.
Nearly nine in 10 GPs (88%) told researchers for Norwich Union Healthcare that their patients need to know more about hereditary conditions that run in their family.
And of those who are able to provide some basic health details, more than half of doctors say they don’t feel confident that the information is accurate.
The ‘Healthcare Heritage’ study from Norwich Union Healthcare also found that more than a third of people (35%) admit they would not feel confident about answering their GP knowledgeably when asked about illnesses that ran in their family.
And most people don’t even think it’s anything to worry about, with four in five people saying they don’t feel they need to know about their family’s health history.
Although there’s an increased interest in people tracking their own family history, it seems for most of us it’s out of curiosity (72%) rather than for health reasons (3%).
Dr Ann Robinson, GP, says: "We often know more about our friends’ health than we do about our own grandparents, aunts and uncles. But a detailed knowledge of your own family’s health problems could help to save your life. Most of the common, serious illnesses are potentially inherited. If you know you have a family tendency to develop Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes or some types of cancer, you can get specific advice about how to prevent the disease yourself or at least pick it up in the early stages. There is no advantage to being an ostrich about your family health history."
The study of more than 200 GPs and 1,000 adults was commissioned by Norwich Union Healthcare as it launches its new online health tree to provide people with a useful tool to record their ancestors’ health history and find out more information about hereditary illnesses.
Nearly three quarters of GPs say that a family health tree would be a great benefit for them to find out more detailed information from their patients and that having a record of this information to hand would:
- Create greater awareness of hereditary diseases
- Help prevent/delay further illness
- Help speed up diagnosis
- Help predict future illness
Dr Doug Wright, clinical development manager at Norwich Union Healthcare, adds: "Most of us have very limited knowledge about our family’s health history. We want to encourage people to generate and update their family history to promote a sense of responsibility and encourage individuals to play a part in their own health care management. Being able to provide this information can help our GPs advise us better either in making a diagnosis or guiding us on health risks."
The ‘Healthcare Heritage’ study also found:
- Shockingly, a third of us (32%) have limited or no knowledge at all about even our parents’ and siblings’ health history
- The Scots have the worst knowledge about their parents’ and siblings’ health history, with nearly two in five admitting so
- It’s not just our own family’s health that we need to be aware of - more than half of people (51%) say they couldn’t provide information about their partner’s family health history
The Healthcare Heritage tree is available online at www.norwichunion.com/healthtree and allows people to input family members and illnesses as well as find out more about hereditary illnesses from its online directory.
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Media contacts:
Jo Misson or Charlotte Ruddlesdin, QBO Bell Pottinger on 020 7861 2424
Norwich Union Press Office contacts:
Lorna Wiltshire: 07788 471 849
James Evans: 01904 452 791 or 07800 699 525
Notes to editors:
- Norwich Union Healthcare commissioned TNS to carry out research amongst a representative sample of 202 GPs across the UK during December 2004; and commissioned research amongst a representative sample of 1042 adults across the UK during 21-23 December 2004.About Norwich Union Healthcare
- Norwich Union Healthcare was founded in 1990 as the healthcare arm of Norwich Union and now provides a range of income protection and private medical insurance products that cover over 750,000 lives. It is one of the largest providers of income protection and private medical insurance in the UK.
- Norwich Union Healthcare is authorised and regulated by the Financial Service Authority and is a member of the Association of British Insurers and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva’s internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.
- An ISDN facility is available for studio quality broadcast. Call QBO Bell Pottinger on 020 7861 2424.