In medicine, genograms have had a different career than in psychotherapy: quieter, more clinical, but no less effective. As a family history tool, they help doctors identify hereditary diseases earlier.
Genograms as a Medical Instrument
Family history has been part of medical practice for centuries — but genograms turn it into a diagnostic instrument. Instead of a list of diseases, a visual picture emerges: who died of heart disease, at what age, across how many generations?
Genograms have become standard in primary care and genetic counselling. The US Surgeon General has explicitly recommended Family Health Portraits — structured genograms for medical history — since 2004.
Common Applications
In clinical practice, medical genograms are used primarily for:
- Hereditary diseases: Identifying risk factors for genetically determined conditions such as BRCA mutations, familial hypercholesterolaemia or hereditary cancer syndromes
- Cardiology: Early detection of hereditary heart disease through analysis of causes of death in family history
- Psychiatry: Recording hereditary mental health conditions across generations
Digital Genograms in Medicine
Medical use places special requirements on data protection: patient data may only be stored locally and encrypted. GenoEasy meets these requirements through local AES-256 encryption.
Another advantage: digital genograms can be easily updated as family history changes — a new cancer case, a changed risk profile. The genogram grows with the patient's history.
