Cancer Is A Genetic Disease

Cancer Is A Genetic Disease.
When actress Angelina Jolie went noted about her counteractive double mastectomy, it did not lead to an increased understanding of the genetic risk of bust cancer, researchers say. Although it raised awareness of breast cancer, exposure to Jolie's feature may have resulted in greater confusion about the link between a family history of breast cancer and increased cancer risk, according to the study, published Dec 19, 2013 in the record Genetics in Medicine. Earlier this year, Jolie revealed that she had both breasts removed after culture that she carried a mutation in a gene called BRCA1 that is linked to tit and ovarian cancers.

Women with mutations in that gene and the BRCA2 gene have a five times higher danger of breast cancer and a 10 to 30 times higher imperil of developing ovarian cancer than those without the mutations. For the study, researchers surveyed more than 2500 Americans. About 75 percent were knowledgeable of Jolie's story, the investigators found. But fewer than 10 percent of the respondents could correctly meet questions about the BRCA gene changing that Jolie carries and the typical woman's risk of developing breast cancer.

So "Ms Jolie's salubrity story was prominently featured throughout the media and was a chance to mobilize health communicators and educators to tutor about the nuanced issues around genetic testing, risk and preventive surgery," study govern author Dina Borzekowski, a research professor in the University of Maryland School of Public Health's concern of behavior and community health, said in a university news release. However, it "feels delight in it was a missed opportunity to educate the public about a complex but rare health situation".

About half of the inspection respondents incorrectly thought that a lack of family history of cancer was associated with a debase than average personal risk. Among people who had at least one close relative develop cancer, those who knew about Jolie's exposure were less likely than those unaware of her story to estimate their own cancer chance as higher than average, 39 percent versus 59 percent. That's a concern, another researcher said.

And "Since many more women without a blood history develop breast cancer each year than those with, it is superior that women don't feel falsely reassured by a negative family history," scan co-author Dr Debra Roter, director of the Center for Genomic Literacy and Communication at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in the despatch release. The researchers also found that 57 percent of women who knew about Jolie's record said they would have similar surgery if they knew they had a out of order BRCA gene.

Nearly three-quarters of women and men in the survey felt Jolie did the retaliate for thing by going public about her experience. Cases of breast cancer linked to a BRCA gene anomaly are extremely rare. In the United States, a woman's risk of ever getting breast cancer if she does not have a BRCA transformation is between 5 percent and 15 percent lachhipur sex cont.no. While celebrities can help muster awareness of health issues by sharing their own experiences, it's important to help the segment understand and use the information about diagnosis and treatment contained in these stories, the researchers concluded.