And not just you and your grandmother and aunts and uncles. I mean the kind that draws 200 people from across the country. Inyanga Mack, clinical director of Temple University Hospital's department of family medicine, suggests that people come away from these events with more than a weekend at a resort town and a commemorative T-shirt.
People can use the gathering as an opportunity to share valuable family health and medical history.
The truth is that you may have inherited more than your grandfather's smile. You may also have inherited his tendency to high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. Those ailments and others, such as heart disease, stroke, thyroid disease, diabetes and various types of cancer, tend to be genetic, Mack said. There are several ways to share information at large family gatherings. Those can be made available at a booth or table.