Williams R R
West J Med. 1984 Dec;141(6):799-806.
Most major chronic diseases probably result from environmental factors accumulating over time in genetically susceptible persons. A detailed family history assessment can help identify the subset of the general population with a strong predisposition to certain major diseases. An understanding of the environmental factors promoting disease development will facilitate more effective prevention or delay disease in a targeted susceptible population. To effectively use this growing knowledge in genetics and epidemiology, health professionals need to motivate people to follow sound recommendations for preventing and delaying disease.To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of strategies for health promotion and disease prevention, family history data can help determine those diseases for which persons have the greatest risk. They can then concentrate their primary efforts on those preventive measures that will most likely benefit them.
大多数主要慢性病可能是环境因素在具有遗传易感性的人群中随时间积累所致。详细的家族史评估有助于识别普通人群中对某些主要疾病有强烈易感性的亚组。了解促进疾病发展的环境因素将有助于在目标易感人群中更有效地预防或延缓疾病。为了有效利用遗传学和流行病学方面不断增长的知识，卫生专业人员需要激励人们遵循预防和延缓疾病的合理建议。为提高健康促进和疾病预防策略的效率和效果，家族史数据有助于确定人们风险最高的那些疾病。然后，他们可以将主要精力集中在最有可能使他们受益的预防措施上。
