November is Family Health History Month. When families gather at Thanksgiving, they may notice that they share common habits, lifestyles, and physical traits from holiday traditions to Jewish heritage to eye color. These commonalities are often passed down through the generations, both biologically through DNA, and socially through learned behaviors. Diseases that run in families are often connected to certain genes. Some diseases, such as Tay-Sachs, are based on single gene mutations, while others are based on a combination of genes, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Many genetic mutations occur more frequently in specific ethnic groups than in the general population. Therefore, knowing information about your ethnicity and your ancestors’ countries of origin can help you determine if you or your family might be at risk.

The National Office of Public Health Genomics found that 96 percent of Americans believe that family health history is important to health but only 30 percent have tried to organize their family health history information. The Surgeon General’s annual Family Health History Month campaign is designed to encourage people to gather their family health history and discuss their findings with their healthcare provider so that this information can be added to their medical records and used to guide shared decisions about care. Today, an abundance of online tools have emerged to make tracking and sharing family health history information easier than ever.

But family health history information can provide benefits that go beyond individual health care. This November, the Center for Jewish Genetics will collaborate with the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research to encourage families of Ashkenazi Jewish descent to talk with their relatives about family health history and to learn about the MJFF landmark study on the connection between Parkinson’s disease and genetics. About 10 percent of all cases of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are genetic. Individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent are more likely than the general population to carry a mutation in either the LRRK2 or GBA gene. The study, the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), is taking place at 33 sites worldwide including Northwestern University here in Chicago. The study can be extremely valuable in understanding Parkinson’s indicators and in discovering new treatments. People with and without Parkinson’s-who carry one or both of the genetic mutations-can visit www.michaeljfox.org/ppmi/genetics or call (888) 830-6299 for more information. PPMI provides free genetic counseling and testing for the LRRK2 and GBA genes. Thanksgiving Day is the perfect time to start this important conversation to identify family members who are eligible to participate. A decision to get involved in PPMI is an opportunity to join forces with thousands of families worldwide committed to advancing scientific progress. Michael J. Fox will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Vanguard Dinner sponsored by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. Since launching his foundation in 2000, the MJFF-the largest non-profit funder of Parkinson’s drug development in the world-has raised $450 million dollars to search for a cure for this incapacitating disease.

But knowing your family health history and identifying family members is just the first step along the continuum of care. For those already affected with PD, JUF affiliated agencies provide programming and services for individuals and families. The National Parkinson Foundation recently selected the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago (JCC) to launch the Edmond J. Safra National Parkinson’s Wellness Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center (a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence), and CJE SeniorLife. The program will take place at the Bernard Horwich JCC in Rogers Park, and will provide exercise, education, and wellness services for adults with any stage of PD as well as support for their caregivers. Exercise classes and support groups will begin the week of Jan. 4, 2016. For more information or to register, please call (773) 516-5864.

CJE SeniorLife provides support for individuals and families affected by PD in order to promote positive, healthy aging. CJE has collaborated with MJFF on local educational and screening programs examining PD as a Jewish genetic disease and is committed to providing the best care for persons with PD. Most direct care staff is required to receive agency-wide PD training. CJE offers seated exercise classes, caregiver support groups and therapeutic art classes. All of CJE’s PD programs are open to the public and free of charge.

This Thanksgiving start a new tradition. Pass on your family’s health history to your children, grandchildren and those you care about most. Give thanks for the blessing of good health, and help yourself and others by sharing your information with your healthcare provider and researchers so that our community will benefit now and in future generations.

Surgeon General: My Family Health Portrait: http://1.usa.gov/1xDsG4p

My Family Health Portrait is an online tool that makes it easy for you to record your family health history. The tool is easily accessible and simple to complete. It assembles your information and makes a “pedigree” (family tree) that you can download. It is private and does not keep your information. The tool gives you a health history that you can shore with family members and/or send to your healthcare provider.

Genetic Alliance Family Health History Tools: http://bit.ly/1LaRu8F

Karen Litwack, LCSW, is the senior advisor for national and educational initiatives for the Center for Jewish Genetics-an educational resource for hereditary cancers and Jewish genetic disorders-a cooperative effort of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and supported in part by the Michael Reese Health Trust.