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English: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Cannes film festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In a huge revelation, actress Angelina Jolie revealed in a New York Times op-ed on Tuesday that she “quietly underwent a preventive double mastectomy” after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene.
“My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87% to under 5%,” Jolie writes. “I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”
She says she feels “empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”
Jolie salutes her partner, Brad Pitt, who she says was with her during her surgeries at the Pink Lotus Breast Center.
“I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive,” Jolie writes. “So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition.”
Jolie says she decided to share the story of her surgeries in the hopes that it will benefit other women at risk. She encourages women to be proactive about their health if they have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, while acknowledging the cost of gene testing in the U.S. remains an obstacle for many.
“I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer,” Jolie writes.
Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at age 56 after a nearly decade-long battle with ovarian cancer.
There is now more miss information on genetics and cancer. Now this is more miss information through out the nation. I got a call waking me up from Port St Lucie. A woman who read NO MORE HYSCTERECTOMIES begged me to have the courage to speak out on Angelina Jolie’s mastectomy.
The concept of hormone imbalance and monitoring for this and treating it was totally not covered by the news . This is because it is not covered by the MDs . This is becaused it is not expalined to patients. Some women have a abnormal binding hormone level that increases cancer risk. Was a sex binding hormone tested on Angelina? I consult with patients all over the globe and the basics of hormone imbalance and have to go over the protocol over and over again because MDs are failing to get the proper studies performed.
GENETIC TESTING
Genetic risks exist and the reality is the costs for genetic testing are FAR too expensive for women of America much less than the globe. The costs needs to be reduced. My testing was in 2006 and I had to fight to get the tests. $3,000 for a blood test that many need is simply horrible. My genetic counciler had no idea what affects hormones have on cancer risks so these basic tests are not being tested.
Also the factors of hormones and cancer need to be discussed an this is still not covered. This case of Angelia Jolie shows that MDs are not giving full informed consent and disclosure as to female cancer etiology. Our genes increase our cancer risks. Our environment and exposure then impact this risk. When I had colon cancer and my mother had breast cancer there was a massive push to castrate me. The MDs did not even order genetic testing . I had to fight to get genetic testing for months . I learned how expensive it was . One company controls genetic testing in AMERICA and it has done nothing to make this testing reasonable for all men and women. There is only the reality that this company controls genetic testing and has done everything it can to make the test out of reach for most Americans.
I can tell you all with the ignorance in the world of medicine that NO ONE TESTED Angelia’s hormone levels ! This is a logical step to take to evaluate this as contributor to cancer risk. This is a critical issue. Also colon cancer is linked to breast and uterine cancer do we remove our colons ? The fact that the entire science of cancer is not discussed with patients is a poor standard of care. If you take out Angelina’s ovaries next then what are you doing to her castration? Taking out her ovaries will increase her risks for heart disease and osteoporosis TEN times and reduce her life span . What needs to be explored is what medical care did her mother have? My mother had breast cancer in her 50’s as well. My mother had been put on Premarin for years after her hysterectomy for fibroids ( which does not need to take place today but still is) that created hormone imbalance and BREAST CANCER. My mother smoked also. Joilina lived with story of her mother’s death which needs the evaluation her. My mother had radiation for her breast cancer and was over exposed to the radiation. The end result is the radiation destroyed her aorta and it ruptured. She died a horrible death in pain when the intern 3 times in one week sent her home with antacid . She had classical signs of a ruptured aorta. But she was never seen by a licensed MD for 3 emergency visits at Cedars Sinai Medical Center . Its the story of Angelina’s mother that needed to be evaluated . The point here is where are the hormone studies ? Again these tests can be done on all women and they are not. HORMONE IMBALANCE CAUSES BREAST CANCER. Sorry Angelina that you got the same care as all women you only got part of the story. Review of your mother’s history needed to be in the first step. Then your hormone levels needed to be studied. This is global malpractice that goes on everyday. What was Jolina’s colon cancer genetics ? This is a standard study that needed to be done as well because colon cancer is clustered with breast cancer.