Heritage AIHow to Find Out What Illnesses Your Ancestors Had
Often nobody is left who remembers what your ancestors were ill with. Here is where to look: who to ask, what to check in documents and death certificates, and what to write down.
Also in Russian: the original article
In this article· 3 sections
Finding out what illnesses your ancestors had is hard for a simple reason: often nobody remembers any more. Grandmother is gone, diagnoses were never written down, and “something with the heart” is too vague to use. But the picture can be rebuilt piece by piece.
Start with the people who can still tell you. Older relatives remember more than you expect, if you ask specific questions. Not “what was grandfather ill with?” but “what did he die of?”, “how old was he when he took to his bed?”, “did anyone stay in hospital, and for what?” Sometimes a single phrase like “he went down early with his heart” is already a landmark.
Check the documents for the cause of death
The cause of death can be found on a death certificate. It may already sit in the family archive, or you can request a copy from ZAGS (the Russian civil registry office). Old hospital discharge papers, prescriptions and sanatorium booklets give hints too. Sometimes an illness is mentioned in a letter or on the back of a photograph.
If your family lived in Russia or the USSR, certificates from ZAGS are requested in Russian. Heritage AI prepares the letter text for you.
Write down even inexact details
Note down whatever you hear, even if it is vague: “heart trouble”, “sugar” (the family word for diabetes), “a tumour”. For each, record who had it and roughly how old they were. The age of onset matters most. It helps tell a pattern from a coincidence.
Sort by line: mother’s side and father’s side
Keep the maternal and paternal lines separate. That way you can see whether something repeats in several relatives. Repetition is the signal worth noticing.
You will not recover an exact diagnosis for everyone, and that is fine. Even an incomplete picture is useful to you and to your doctor. This is general information, not a diagnosis: if something in your family history worries you, talk to a doctor.
In Heritage AI you can attach these notes to specific relatives in your family tree, so what you found does not get lost again. The first research plan is free: /en.
Questions and answers
- How can I find out what my great-grandparents died of?
- Ask older relatives specific questions, look for death certificates, hospital papers and letters in the family archive, and if needed request a copy of the record from the civil registry office. For families from Russia or the USSR that office is ZAGS, and requests are written in Russian.
- What if no one remembers the exact diagnosis?
- Write down what you do know: the organ or symptom (“heart”, “sugar”, “tumour”), who it affected and roughly at what age. An incomplete picture is still useful to a doctor.
- Why is the age of onset so important?
- It helps separate a pattern from a coincidence. An illness that appears early in several relatives says more than one that appears in very old age. Only a doctor can interpret it.
Next step
Start with a free research plan
Tell Heritage AI where your family came from and get a plan for where to look first. It shows the route; it does not promise to find a record. The product is currently available in Russian for families in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.