Family Gatherings Are Opportunities for Medical Detective Work

Pop-pop! It’s so good to see you. How are you?

[Man’s voice:] Good, good.

How are those knees holding up? And the old ticker?

[Man: ] Fine. ____1____.

What medications are you taking now, Pop? Have you ever been diagnosed with high-blood pressure? Kidney disease? What about asthma? Any trouble breathing? Now, can you read the letters on the third line?

Man: E, Uh, M, P?

Taking grandpa’s medical history might not seem like ____2____. But geneticists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham note that family gatherings are a great time to learn more about your family’s health issues.
Lots of disorders—like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer—____3____ your genes. So it’s good to know whether grandma has glaucoma or your mom had a brother who died young of a massive coronary. That way your docs can ____4____ diseases to which you might be susceptible. Or maybe the info will inspire you to start taking better care of yourself.
Either way, offer the relatives a cup of holiday cheer. And ____5____ note how much they drank. For your records.
【視聽(tīng)版科學(xué)小組榮譽(yù)出品】
Can’t complain the best way to spread warm holiday wishes have strong roots in screen you for feel free to
家庭聚會(huì)是了解家族病史的好機(jī)會(huì) Pop-pop! It’s so good to see you. How are you? 爺爺，爺爺，真高興遇見(jiàn)你！最近怎么樣？ Man’s voice: Good, good. 還好，還好。 How are those knees holding up? And the old ticker? 膝蓋還夠強(qiáng)健嗎？心臟呢？ Man: Fine. Can’t complain. 噢，還不錯(cuò)。 爺爺現(xiàn)在都吃些什么藥呢？有沒(méi)有被診斷出高血壓、腎病、哮喘、或是呼吸困難？你現(xiàn)在能看清（視力表）第三行的字母么？ Man: E, Uh, M, P? E，呃，M，P？ 詢問(wèn)祖父的病史看起來(lái)或許不是個(gè)送上節(jié)日祝福的好方式。但亞拉巴馬州大學(xué)伯明翰分校的遺傳學(xué)家注意到家庭聚會(huì)是一個(gè)更好地了解你的家族健康問(wèn)題的極佳時(shí)機(jī)。 許多疾病，如糖尿病、心臟病、癌癥等，都極大程度上起源于你的基因。因此你最好知道你的祖母是否有青光眼，或者你的媽媽是否有個(gè)兄弟很早就死于大范圍冠狀動(dòng)脈血栓癥。這樣你的醫(yī)生就能對(duì)你可能會(huì)患上的疾病進(jìn)行監(jiān)控。也或許這些信息將激勵(lì)你開(kāi)始更好地照料自己。 不管怎樣，跟你的親屬們?yōu)閼c祝節(jié)日干上一兩杯吧。隨時(shí)注意他們的酒量，記錄下來(lái)，并保持住你自己的記錄吧?。‵or your records 這里有兩層含義，一是記錄親屬情況，而是保持自己的（某項(xiàng)，如酒量）記錄。）