Family Diseases: Are You at Risk?

Written in a popular style, in language few of us will find difficult to understand, this ground-breaking work examines the genetics revolution and its implications for your health; it discusses genetic diseases and whether you and your family may be at risk; and it explores your mental and behavioral roots--your genetic susceptibility to manic depression, for example, or to alcoholism--all in the framework of ancestry and family health history. And if the question of ancestry should prove vexing, the books shows you how comparatively simple it is to trace your family history, establish your medical pedigree, and construct your own family health tree.

This compact book is a primer on both inherited disease and genealogy, but emphasizes the latter, as might be expected from the author, a genealogist. Gormley provides sketchy, anecdotal information on genetic research, but leaves diagnosis and detailed medical explanations to the experts. Instead, she offers a summary of resources for genealogic investigations, explaining how to utilize state records and home computers to ferret out information on otherwise unsuspected defects and illnesses that could affect present and future generations. Most readers will, unsurprisingly, find themselves urged to take the usual precautions against familial obesity, heart disease, diabetes, alcoholism or cancer; a small percentage may discover they're at risk for one or more of the dozens of rare disorders and birth defects mentioned more briefly. And those who unearth family histories of genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia or hemophilia may benefit from genetic counseling when planning a family.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For more than a century, a controversy has been raging as to whether an individual is more likely to be formed by "nature" (inherited genes) or "nurture" (environment). Many diseases and birth defects have been shown to have a genetic component, and these studies are capably summarized by this book's author, who leans heavily toward the "nature" concept. The evidence she quotes for the inheritance of behavioral traits is less well documented and may lead the reader to faulty conclusions. She offers good advice on tracing ancestors to provide a family medical history, which may be helpful diagnostically. Another title to consult is Choices Not Chances: An Essential Guide to Your Heredity and Health (Little, 1989), written by Aubrey Milunsky, director of Harvard Medical School's Center for Human Genetics.
- Eleanor Maass, Maass Assocs., New Milford, Pa.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.