The Importance of Learning Your Family Health History

When I headed to college I knew a little bit about my family health history, usually not enough to fill out the doctor's forms completely. At the time I didn't think anything of it, even though I was about to major in biology. In fact I was so concerned with obtaining a degree in marine biology I let other things slip away, including my health.

I began to struggle my second year in college. My professors began to tell me that perhaps I wasn't cut out for biology. They asked me to think about trying a different avenue of study, maybe humanities. I had always excelled in humanities, and while I had to work a little harder in biology I didn't see that as a problem. Frustrated I finally listened to what my professors were telling me. In fact I let their words eat away at my confidence. There were a lot of times I felt depressed or had an easily excitable temper. For me to lose confidence and become erratic was unnatural. I had always been extremely confident in my abilities, and while I had a nasty temper I didn't let it show. Instead I usually just let my feelings go until I was rational enough to think. These were my first symptoms, but I rationalized them away.

The fact that I had studied biology should have helped me see there was more to the problem than I was realizing. I didn't pay attention to the symptoms until they became so known I had little choice. Sure my hair was all the sudden dry when it used to be oily. I was brushing more strands out of my hair than I had in previous years. I started to lose weight despite what I was eating and the fact that my only exercise was walking a ¼ mile to school and back. I became clumsy, my hands were shaking, and I had a shortness of breath. My skin became more sensitive to fragrances, soaps, and the weather. In fact it would become so dry I couldn't sleep at night. I tried hundreds of products to make my skin feel better, and yet nothing was working.

By this time I was in my last year of school. My grades in all classes were slipping, I began to have attendance issues, and I couldn't remember most things that happened in one day let alone the last five years.