Tell your brothers and your daughter what the check-up found, in plain words, and let each of them take it to their own doctor. A high blood pressure reading and a raised blood sugar result are not yet a diagnosis, but the conditions behind them can run in families, and a relative who knows can ask to be checked sooner.
Whether your results count as their family history
Not until your doctor names a condition. Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions in your family, so what goes into it is a condition, not a single number. Blood pressure changes through the day with what you are doing, and high blood pressure means consistent readings of 130 systolic or higher, or 80 diastolic or higher. One reading at one check-up is the start of finding out whether you have it. Your own doctor decides what your results mean, and once a condition has a name, that name is what goes into the family's history.
The relatives it covers are a wide circle. A person whose close family member has a chronic disease may be more likely to develop it too, especially when more than one close relative has it, or when a relative developed it younger than usual. Parents, sisters, brothers, half-sisters, half-brothers, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews all count. Your brothers and your daughter are in your history, and you are in theirs.
What runs in families, and what does not have to
High blood pressure often runs in families: many genes are linked to small increases in risk, and a high sensitivity to salt in the diet, which can play a part in high blood pressure, can run in families as well. Having a family history of diabetes makes type 2 diabetes more likely, and so do, among other things, being 35 or older, being overweight or having obesity, having prediabetes and not being physically active.
Family history, age, race and ethnicity cannot be changed. Other risks can, and a family that shares genes may also share habits, such as how active they are and what they like to eat. Keeping a healthy weight and being physically active may help avoid some risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and acting on the factors you can change may help delay or prevent it. For blood pressure, a heart-healthy lifestyle can help prevent it and its complications: food lower in salt and rich in potassium, such as fruit and vegetables; avoiding or limiting alcohol; regular physical activity, where even modest amounts can make a difference, and less time sitting each day; aiming for a healthy weight; not smoking; keeping cholesterol and blood sugar under control; managing stress; and enough good-quality sleep.
That is the useful half of the news to pass on: what goes on the plate, how long they sit, and whether they get checked are all theirs to change.
Why nobody in the family has mentioned either
Possibly because nobody knew. Both conditions are quiet. Prediabetes can last for years with no clear symptoms, and it often goes undetected until serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes show up. High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms until it causes serious health problems, and about 1 in 3 US adults with high blood pressure are not even aware they have it.
So silence in the family is not evidence of a clean history. It may only mean nobody was tested, or nobody said. You found out because you were checked, and that is the step your relatives may not have had.
What a relative can do with it
Each of them can tell their own doctor what you told them. Family health history, even if incomplete, can help a healthcare provider decide which screening tests a person needs and when those tests should start. Numbers are not needed: "a close relative had a high blood pressure reading and a raised blood sugar result" is enough to start that conversation.
What each relative can ask about:
| Your result | What a relative can ask about |
|---|---|
| A high blood pressure reading | a blood pressure check at least once a year, and whether regular monitoring at home makes sense |
| A raised blood sugar result | a simple blood sugar test, by asking their doctor whether they should be tested |
A blood pressure check at least once a year is worth having anyway, family history or not, because so many people with high blood pressure do not know they have it. Whether a blood sugar test is due now for your brother is his doctor's decision, made with the history in hand.
If your own result is later diagnosed as diabetes, your brothers and your daughter can each ask their own doctor how early they should be screened for diabetes. People with a family history of a disease may have the most to gain from lifestyle changes and screening tests. Screening tests such as blood sugar testing help find early signs of disease, and finding disease early can often mean better health in the long run.
However old your daughter is, this applies to her too. Type 2 diabetes can develop at any age, even during childhood, though the risk increases as a person gets older. On top of the risk factors adults have, children and teens are at higher risk if they were born with a low birth weight, or if their parent had gestational diabetes while pregnant with them. The risk of high blood pressure is also rising for children and teens, possibly because more of them have overweight or obesity. If she takes a regular medicine, ask her doctor whether it might increase her risk of type 2 diabetes.
Anyone in the family who starts measuring at home can learn to take a reading they can trust (see Why your prescriber needs your home blood pressure log).
Saying it without handing someone a diagnosis
Tell them what the check-up found, and leave out any guess at what it means for them. Share what you have learned with your family and with your own doctor, and update it as you learn more. A plain message does the job, along these lines: "A check-up turned up a high blood pressure reading and a raised blood sugar result for me. Both can point to conditions that run in families, so it may be worth mentioning to your doctor next time you see them."
Leave naming a condition to your own doctor, and do not guess at any for your relatives. If one of them asks what it means for them, the honest answer is that their own doctor can use the history to decide which tests they need and when.
It may also be the moment to collect the rest. Family gatherings are a good time to talk about health history: for each relative, write down major conditions, causes of death, age at diagnosis, age at death and ethnic background. If nobody seems to know, there are ways to find out a family history even when relatives cannot or will not say (see Medullary thyroid cancer in the family rules out one weekly injection).
If you are starting weight care with NicoCares, put both results in the medical intake, under its Yes or No question on medical conditions, so the physician who reads your answers sees them.
A reading that cannot wait
Some signs are an emergency whatever a blood pressure cuff says: call 911 right away for severe chest pain or pressure, or for suddenly not being able to speak, see, walk or move.
A reading above 180/120 needs medical attention. Without those signs, wait 5 minutes and check again, and if it is still high with no symptoms, call your doctor's office, because your doctor may start a medicine or change a dose.
If the second reading is also high and there are symptoms such as a sudden, severe headache, difficulty breathing, sudden severe pain in the abdomen, chest or back, numbness or weakness, a sudden change in vision or problems talking, call 911 and do not wait to see if it comes down.
