Nothing's as Irish as Barack O'Bama

November 14, 2:06 AMHealth Care ExaminerDoctor Lissa

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What do you know about your ancestors?

Around St. Patrick's Day, 2007, Ancestry.com issued a press release revealing that Barack Obama is part Irish.  In fact his third great-grandfather on his mother's side, Fulmoth Kearney, is Obama's most recent connection with the "old country".   Megan Smolenyak, a geneologist with Ancestry found his place of origin, a small village called Moneygall.  Fulmoth's parents and siblings migrated to Wayne Township, Ohio but Fulmoth eventually settled in Jefferson Township, Tipton County, Indiana.   

What does this have to do with health?  Well, knowing one's family tree and the reasons people lived and died is of great importance when you consider what your health risks are, or in some cases, what makes your people so hard to kill.  Do they die of heart disease, diabetes, or just plain stubborness?  Does the slightest infection lead to the grave or does it take a plague to give them a cold? Were your grandmothers the type who could skin a deer and make mince meat pie or were they taken to fainting spells that lasted for days? We should all have access to this information as it is a priceless clue to our mortality.     

In Obama's case, Ms. Smolenyak found that these were hardy people.  They left Ireland most likely because of the promise of land and a better future, not because of famine.  In fact, Obama's relatives had been migrating to America since the late 1700's.  Fulmoth's branch was one of the last to leave in the 1850's. 

My advice, talk to your relatives before it's too late.  Learn as much as you can about who they were, how distant relatives died, what made them strong and how they managed to thrive despite the odds.  Then make a family tree capturing as much of the information on paper as you can.  It's an excellent start to a personal health plan, and might give you some great stories you can share with your children.

Check out www.RootsTelevision.com where you can watch Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys sing, "There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama".