- With Mayo Clinic genetic counselor
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
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Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
"We must begin now to prepare for the future; we cannot wait until the details are known or fully understood."*
— David B. Schowalter, M.D., Ph.D., former Mayo geneticist, (*posthumous)
Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C., is a board-certified genetic counselor who specializes in hereditary cancer syndromes. One of her main professional interests is the family medical history.
"Recognizing features in the family history which may suggest an underlying single gene disorder can have a huge impact on families," she says. "Identifying a genetic susceptibility gene can allow family members to more accurately understand their risk of disease and empower those who have an increased genetic susceptibility to take control of their medical management and lifestyle factors which may influence this risk."
She received her B.S. in biology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2002 and M.S. in genetic counseling from the University of Minnesota in 2004.
She was a clinical genetic counselor at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., before joining Mayo Clinic in August 2006 as a genetic counselor and educator for the grant-funded Mayo Eisenberg Genomics Education Program. During her time in Wisconsin, she was also an active member of the metabolic subcommittee of the state Newborn Screening Program and co-facilitated a phenylketonuria clinic.
At Mayo Clinic, she provides physician and staff education about clinically relevant topics in genomics. She also manages multiple education projects championed by Mayo Clinic physicians and is a faculty member for Mayo Medical School. In addition to her education roles, she sees adult patients in the Department of Medical Genetics.
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Genetics blog
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Jan. 23, 2009
Family medical history can help predict health risk
By Carrie A. Zabel, M.S., C.G.C.
This week we'll help you decipher what in your family medical history could be cause for concern and what's not. If you don't feel comfortable interpreting the information on your own, a consultation with a genetics professional may be warranted. You can find a genetic counselor at the National Society of Genetic Counselors.
To accurately assess your health risk for disease based upon your family medical history, you must first sort out the diseases which are known to run in families such as high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, mental illness, osteoporosis, arthritis, and obesity. Second, you can assess the level of risk for these conditions based on several factors including:
- The number of relatives with the same or a related condition
- The age when the conditions were diagnosed
- Other environmental risk factors which may have contributed to the development of disease (i.e. lung cancer in a heavy smoker)
- Whether the condition appears to be passed on in multiple generations
Individuals who have several generations of relatives diagnosed at an early age with no other environmental risk factors (i.e. negative health behaviors) are more likely to have a higher risk to also develop that disease. Some studies suggest that your risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and/or colon cancer may be 2-5 times the risk of the general population, depending on your family medical history.
"Early age" can be defined as:
- Diabetes prior to age 20
- High blood pressure prior to age 40
- Breast, colon or prostate cancer diagnosed prior to age 50
- Stroke prior to age 60
A genetics professional will assist you to interpret your family medical history information, review screening or medical management guidelines, and discuss positive health behaviors which may lower your risk for disease.
For more information on genetic counselors, common diseases that run in families, screening and lifestyle factors, and an electronic tool to collect your family history, please visit the sites below.
And please share your thoughts and experiences with us.
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