Holidays May Be The Right Time For Family Health Chats: Joan Lunden Shares Key Tips

Knowing your health risks starts with knowing your family's medical history.

However, asking loved ones about their health or personal problems can be uncomfortable.

Broadcaster and longtime health advocate Joan Landen spoke with Fox News Digital about why the holidays might be the best time of year to start these kinds of conversations, and how to do it gracefully.

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As a breast cancer survivor herself, Lunden describes herself as a "strong advocate" of knowing your family's medical history.

"It's important to understand the health risks," he said.

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However, knowing your family's medical history goes beyond family members.

In addition to examining your parents and grandparents or learning their medical history, it's important to look for aunts, uncles, and other relatives who may have serious health problems.

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"If someone in your family has had breast cancer, you need to know what age they were diagnosed," says Lunden.

"And you have to start mammograms 10 years earlier."

Lunden cautions that sometimes it takes "a bit of work" to get that personal information from family members, especially if there are other generations who hide their chronic illnesses.

He suggested that National Family Health History Day will be celebrated this year on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, 2022, so that might be a good time for family members to prepare.

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"It's very important that they provide that information," Lunden said.

"Put them in," he said. "Spend these small intimate moments with your loved ones and get this important information to protect yourself."

Lunden's older daughter, Jamie Hess, joined in, saying people "feel comfortable having uncomfortable conversations."

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During the holidays, Hess urges family members to sit down and share medical records and life-saving knowledge.

"What if the gift you wanted this holiday season was an hour of your time?" He said, what can be a greater gift?

Lunden agrees that the greatest gift an aging relative can give another family member is their health history, as well as exposure and understanding of what the world was like when they were young.

"It's the memories that really matter," Landen says.

"Ask, 'How was your intercourse?' - How was I when I was a child?

He added: "Ask them some of these questions when they can still answer, even though they still have some cognitive ability."

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Once the conversation starts, Lunden suggests trying to ask people questions about the health of family members.

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"You're more likely to talk about that kind of medical history," he says.

New York-based Joan Landen is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and visiting professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

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