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Medicine vocabulary · History Taking and Examination

Family history

Meaning in medicine, with examples

nounCommon term

In medicine, family history means: Information about illnesses in a patient's close relatives, such as parents, brothers and sisters, which may increase the patient's own risk.

In Turkish: soygeçmiş, aile öyküsü

How it is used

Written FH or FHx. Doctors ask 'Does anything run in the family?' and record a positive or strong family history of heart disease, cancer or diabetes, including the relative's age at diagnosis.

Example sentences

  1. There's a strong family history of heart disease: his father had a heart attack at 48.

  2. Any family history of bowel cancer?

Common collocations

  • positive family history
  • strong family history
  • no relevant family history
  • family history of
  • past medical historyThe section of a history that lists a patient's previous and ongoing illnesses, operations and hospital stays.
  • take a historyTo ask a patient structured questions about their current problem, past illnesses, medicines, family and lifestyle in order to understand what is wrong.
  • diabetesA long-term disease in which the body cannot control blood sugar properly, because it makes too little insulin or cannot use it well.
  • tumorAn abnormal lump or mass of tissue that forms when cells divide more than they should; it can be benign or malignant.

More terms: History Taking and Examination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.