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The medical histories of your first-degree relatives come next.

Start with the people who share half your genes - your parents, brothers and sisters, and children.

For each family member, list date of birth, general health, medical conditions, and - if appropriate - age at death and cause of death.

If you were adopted, the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse has information that may be helpful in securing medical histories of your birth parents.

Broadening your search to include grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, half brothers and half sisters, and cousins can reveal interesting patterns.Get medical information about relatives.

One strategy is to ask questions at family reunions, although you'll need to ask delicately, because such questions can raise guilt and anxiety.

Perhaps there's a "matriarch"- an older woman who knows a great deal about the extended family and is more than happy to share her knowledge.Old family letters or diaries may also contain clues.

Death certificates can be helpful, because they list age at death, cause of death and sometimes other medical conditions.

(For help in locating vital records departments, visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm).

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