How can obtain the medical history of my deceased ancestors?

Question:

How can obtain the medical history of my deceased ancestors?

I know some information on my mothers side, as far back as her parents. But my father and his family have been dead for quite some time. I need this information for my children and grandchildren. I know both sides of the family had some major medical issues. Is there somewhere back east that keeps these records. We are haveing family medical problems and need this informationas soon as I can

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There is a repository for medical information, but I don't think you'll be able to get anyone's records except your own. But if you want to try you can contact the Medical Information Bureau. There is a spot on their web page where you can request information:

http://www.mib.com/

The next way to find this information is to request medical records on your deceased relatives as their legal next of kin through the Medical Records department at the hospital where each died. You don't need to request the entire record, just the Discharge Summary which will list their medical history and the condition for which each was admitted. You will need to provide a copy of the death certificate for the person to show s/he is deceased and some kind of record (such as a birth certificate) to prove you are a blood relative. It's also easier to request these records through your physician's office and have the records sent there. Some hospitals have more difficulty releasing records to individuals or to attorneys.

The last way to get the information is to reconstruct it. That's done by pulling death certificates on all family members and building a family medical history. I know this sounds tedious, but it is fairly effective. Obviously you won't find out if Grandpa had diabetes if he died in a plane crash, but you will find out about diabetes in the family if it was a contributing factor to Grandma's heart attack and stroke. It helps to also look up the causes of death on all brothers and sisters in each generation because it gives a fuller view of all of the conditions that run in a family.

Hope this helps. If you need help with the hospitals let me know. I used to be a Medical Records manager at a hospital in Chicago.