Breast Cancer Awareness

A big story in the news this week is that the actress,Angelina Jolie had prophylactic bilateral mastectomies in
April.   She didn't do it because she had breast cancer, but because she was tested and found positive for the BRAC-1 gene.   It is a mutant gene that is hereditary and that signals the increase in  the potential for breast cancer sometime in a woman's life to up to 87%.   The gene also increases the risk of ovarian cancer, the cancer that Angelina's mother died from at the age of 56.  After careful research and consulting with a number of specialists, she and her family decided that having the breast mastectomies now was an important step in protecting her future health.    However you feel about this story, it at least has opened up people's thinking about this issue.  Right now the test for the BRAC-1 gene is quite expensive.   Certainly at this point not everyone would be able to afford the test or even be recommended to have the test.   This is an opportunity for every woman to consider her own situation and consult with her own physician about what her options and needs are.  Bilateral prophylactic mastectomies are certainly not for everyone, but are worth discussing if  heredity and health history dictate.    Be active in guarding your own health.