Is there any place online where I could find a reliable and trustworthy medical opinion?
Anyone who has a blog can easily give out information and advice on medical issues. You can simply ask your doctor to give you a list of sites that you could trust, so when you inevitably Google your own symptoms, you don’t end up misleading.
There are many comments about what patients read on the internet that healthcare providers need to address. Information is highly important, yes, but accurate and reliable sources are far more important.
How does my family history impact my risk of certain conditions?
It’s highly important to understand what your family medical history has to do with your condition. Some medical conditions could affect multiple family members across generations. If first-degree relatives, like parents or siblings, or even more distant relatives suffer from heart disease, an autoimmune disease, or any type of cancer, you might be at risk.
Luckily, we’ve made serious advances in genetic testing, especially for conditions that run in families. For instance, BRCA1 and BRCA2 (which are gene mutations related to breast and ovarian cancer) and other types of hereditary colon cancers should be prioritized; knowing this type of information can be lifesaving.
Also, pancreatic and prostate cancers have been linked to BRCA gene mutations. Depending on your own family history, your healthcare provider could recommend a certain genetic counselor to perform various genetic tests.
If you are at risk for a BRCA gene mutation, you need to know. Otherwise, they could recommend early screening, such as starting to get regular colonoscopies before 45 years old, especially if colon cancer runs in the family.
