You might know a lot about your health, but how much do you really know about the health of your parents or grandparents? Knowing key parts of your family history when it comes to health can help doctors identify diseases you might be at risk for so they can start screening you at the right time. Doing so might just save your life. Here are the 10 steps you need to go through to put together your medical family history.

Ask About Your Grandkids

If you have grandkids, ask your children about their health. Knowing about their health is important since some diseases will skip generations. Ask the same questions (what conditions, what age, how bad), but also ask whether the condition is still present or went away. For example, an initial allergy to milk that has gone away is less important than a peanut allergy that hasn’t.