Inherited Health and HealthCentral Collaborate to Expand Consumer Access to Family Health Information

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Feb 09, 2011, 10:54 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Inherited Health and HealthCentral (www.HealthCentral.com) announced today that they will collaborate to allow easy access to Inherited Health's information on over 500 inherited conditions and its online tool to collect, store and update family health history with other family members.

According to a survey by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 96% of Americans consider knowledge of their family history to be 'very' or 'somewhat' important to their health, but only about 30% actively collect this critical information.

HealthCentral, whose mission is to empower millions of people to improve and take control of their health and well-being, will feature Inherited Health's information throughout HealthCentral.com and encourage consumers to use Inherited Health's Family Health History tool to learn about their chances to develop or pass on inherited conditions. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with an innovative leader in delivering family health information," says Christopher M. Schroeder, CEO of HealthCentral. "Consumers seek each other on HealthCentral because they have very specific symptom or wellness goals. We believe consumers want to learn more about genetic issues and tests that can help them and their doctors make decisions that will improve efficacy and outcomes. The mere act of being willing to understand more about one's family history is a terrific predictor of a consumer who will be more engaged in making health decisions and committing to healthier choices."

"Family history is a powerful tool to help individuals and families take control of their health and plan for their future," says Lee Essner, CEO and co-founder of InheritedHealth.com. "A partnership with HealthCentral means that many more consumers will have the opportunity to start conversations about family history with their relatives and their doctors. We're very excited to work with a leader in online health information."

About Inherited Health

Inherited Health is an innovative online health resource that incorporates family social networking and disease risk assessment to facilitate life-saving conversations amongst families and their doctors.

Effectively the first social network that can save your life, Inherited Health offers a secure place to collect, store and update your family health history with other family members. Our proprietary risk analysis system uses entered health information to provide each family member with a personalized view of the hereditary diseases they are more likely to develop, pass down to their children, and most importantly, it suggests ways to prevent these diseases.

By providing individuals, their families, and their doctors with the ability to access and share this critical information, Inherited Health helps everyone in the family take a proactive step in managing their health.

About HealthCentral

HealthCentral (www.HealthCentral.com) empowers people to improve and take control of their health and well-being through more than 35 condition- and wellness-specific interactive health sites, including #1 HIV/AIDS site TheBody.com and healthy living resource Wellsphere.com. HealthCentral is venture backed by IAC/InteractiveCorp, Polaris Ventures, Sequoia Capital, The Carlyle Group and Allen & Company.

For more information, please visit: www.healthcentral.com and www.inheritedhealth.com.

SOURCE HealthCentral