Genetic Diseases

Running head: GENETIC DISEASES 1
Genetic Diseases
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GENETIC DISEASES 2
Introduction
Health is one of the main factor considered in improving the welfare of people and
entire society in a country. Evaluation of the health status of every individual in a country
starts from family level. For successful assessment of the performance of health officers in
control of disease, the use of medical tools becomes a crucial component in the operation.
Effective use of this tool important in the evaluation of familial characteristics and related
medical conditions (Owens et al, 2011). This medical tool involves a comprehensive study
and analysis of the familial genome. The genomic study is pivotal in determining the types of
diagnoses to be used, a prognosis of a given illness, prediction of related risks, disease
prevention and treatment.
Hereditary Patterns
The Surgeon General’s tool enables families to collect, record and analyze medical
information that can be used to identify potential diseases that are likely to affect the family
from one way or the other. A comprehensive analysis of the medical conditions affecting a
family needs reference on the health history of that family because some diseases are
hereditary, therefore, they can be transmitted from one generation to other under the same
familial lineage. Some hereditary conditions observed in the application of this healthcare
tool include both common and rear diseases that have been reported to affect families in
United States of America and other parts of the world.
Common hereditary diseases affecting most families in the country include Cancer,
diabetes and heart diseases. These hereditary patterns have increased in the country due to
changes in the lifestyle of people. These three types of diseases pressurized the Surgeon to
come up with the tool to address the problems of patients and improve healthcare provision.
The chances of transferring traits that are infective of the disease to another generation are

GENETIC DISEASES 3
higher depending on the history of the family especially the parents. Keeping a record of the
health conditions of a family enables medical officers to predict possible diseases that may be
affecting a patient. For instance, if one of the family members died of breast cancer, the
chances of the disease being observed in some family members are higher because most types
of cancers affect the genome of an individual, therefore making it transmissible through
genes. Rear diseases like cystic fibrosis, haemophilia and sickle cell anaemia are also
identified to be familial (Rothman, 2017). History of the health status and medical conditions
that affected great grandparent, grandparents and other relatives of the family is important in
coming up with immediate measures to treat and control these rear diseases because they
result to other complicated diseases like leukaemia and tumours.
Risks of transmitting the diseases
The health history of a given family is an essential component in daily clinical
operations like diagnosis and treatment of patients in a health setup. All clinicians and
medical doctors normally ask the patient any disease that may have affected one of the family
members before diagnosis or treatment is performed. There are various risks related to
transmitting the familial diseases from one generation to another. One of the dangerous risks
is causing severe and chronic infection to present generations (Imes & Lewis, 2014).
Diseases that were seen to be mild and manageable at first are becoming serious and difficult
to manage currently, therefore, affecting the health status of the family members. This risk is
related to the changes in the lifestyle of the people, leading to accumulation of toxic
substances in the body and weakening of the immune system (Benros et al, 2014).
The risk related to the inheritance of diabetes from parents may be dangerous if not
attended before serious symptoms appear. High blood pressure and diabetes may
cumulatively result in cardiovascular diseases if not screened and treated earlier (Brogan et