Officials have also developed a new computer-based program to help patients better organize their medical histories and present them to their doctors, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona said.

While many people know their family's health can indicate possible problems with their own, "relatively few people have tried to collect it in an organized way," Carmona said, adding that common behavior, environments and cultures are also factors that influence health.

Such information is cheaper than costly genetic tests and can help patients seek preventive health screenings or get diagnosed earlier, officials said.

"Knowing your family's history can save your life," Carmona said.

It also helps doctors quickly asses their patients' medical needs without having to spend extra time asking about their background, said Francis Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health.

Collins added that patients with adoptive or deceased parents or relatives will "have to be a bit tenacious" to dig up information, using death records and seeking help from adoption agencies.

The computer based tool -- available online at http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/  -- allows users to record health histories for as many relatives as they have information for and then print out copies for their doctor.