Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries, Fallopian tubes due to cancer risk | Fox News
What do you guys think? Is this a new strategy for disease prevention? Or just plain paranoia?
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
could be a sign of cancer. It's better to wait for the doctor to confirm it and give details of prognosis and treatment, no? I dunno? I hope women don't go emulating this without thorough consultation with their doctors.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
No ovaries...no period cramps....no risk of getting pregnant.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
its not like she is the pioneer of this, or removed her ovaries in her kitchen sink. thousands of women every day go through the same choices, many who are way younger than her. this is mainstream medical practice.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
its not like she is the pioneer of this, or removed her ovaries in her kitchen sink. thousands of women every day go through the same choices, many who are way younger than her. this is mainstream medical practice.
did not know that.... looks like its the news coz she is a celebrity...
She's also got a gene that makes her risk of cancer ridiculously high, i read somewhere. Plus her mother died due to breast cancer, i think. Makes sense for her to be so preventative.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
No ovaries...no period cramps....no risk of getting pregnant.
and per her.. no ovarian cancer either... she even had double mastectomy a couple of years ago for the same reason ( genetic predisposition for breast cancer )
And this.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
Not paranoia. She has BRCA1 gene which has a high association with breast/ovarian cancer. She chose what a lot of women in her shoes would choose.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
Better to be safe than sorry. There are woman who dont come to know til it's too late. So when she knows beforehand, it is wise of her to take necessary precautions.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
Not paranoia. She has BRCA1 gene which has a high association with breast/ovarian cancer. She chose what a lot of women in her shoes would choose.
So if a person has H pylori infection, he/she should go for gastrectomy?
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
I had this exact same procedure (including uterus)done electively at age 31 after my twins were born. I had stage 4 endometriosis that had damaged one Fallopian tube and ovary. 5 weeks after my procedure we found out my mother had end stage cancer and she passed away 7 months later. It was so advanced the doctors couldn't pinpoint exactly where it started from, but they know it was either uterine or ovarian.
My my middle sister had the genetic testing done and came back BRCA1 so yea....she's also having and elective laparoscopic hysterectomy.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
its not like she is the pioneer of this, or removed her ovaries in her kitchen sink. thousands of women every day go through the same choices, many who are way younger than her. this is mainstream medical practice.
This exactly.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
I think its awesome she is open abt all this.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
Not paranoia. She has BRCA1 gene which has a high association with breast/ovarian cancer. She chose what a lot of women in her shoes would choose.
There is a propensity for breast cancer in my inlaws. Several women, including MIL suffered from it. Some are survivors and some have succumbed.
I have already inquired about the BRCA gene test for my daughter.
Its not paranoia....it's preventive medicine.....getting ahead of the game in order to fend off any natural inclinations. I don't see anything wrong with it.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
So if a person has H pylori infection, he/she should go for gastrectomy?
H.pylori is a bacterial infection that can be easily treated, so no surgeon in their right mind would offer gastrectomy. Even if someone develops H.pylori associated MALT lymphoma, first thing to do is to treat the infection.
Jolie didn't do this because she's crazy, or because she has the money to offer a crazy surgeon to operate on her (of which there may be some). Jolie got the gene from her mother/maternal side, her mother, aunt, and maternal grandmother all died due to ovarian or breast cancers. Jolie was rightfully tested. Ballpark figures, but upto to 80% of women who carry that gene will develop breast cancer, and upto 50% will develop ovarian cancer, there's clear data in medical literature that documents this. Hence if someone carried the gene knowing the odds were not in their favor, and that they will likely develop cancer at some point in their lives because of this gene, why would you not be proactive? Why wait till it occurs and deal with the emotional, psychological, physical, life-limiting impact of it on not only yourself, but your families? Having either your breasts or ovaries removed are huge decisions that impact women, two very things that make you a 'woman'. Most women love their breasts, and their ovaries - but they are not required for sustenance of life, if that makes sense.
What Jolie is doing is raising awareness in women who many not otherwise have that discussion with their physician. In order to get to breast/ovarian emoval for genetic mutation, you need to consult with multiple physicians: breast/gyn surgeon, oncologist, genetic counselor, etc. So it's not like healthcare providers are holding their knives waiting for gullible women to come through so they can take their ovaries/breasts out. Its a lengthy process, that takes multiple discussions and risks/benefits are discussed, and patients make informed decisions.
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
H.pylori is a bacterial infection that can be easily treated, so no surgeon in their right mind would offer gastrectomy. Even if someone develops H.pylori associated MALT lymphoma, first thing to do is to treat the infection.
Jolie didn't do this because she's crazy, or because she has the money to offer a crazy surgeon to operate on her (of which there may be some). Jolie got the gene from her mother/maternal side, her mother, aunt, and maternal grandmother all died due to ovarian or breast cancers. Jolie was rightfully tested. Ballpark figures, but upto to 80% of women who carry that gene will develop breast cancer, and upto 50% will develop ovarian cancer, there's clear data in medical literature that documents this. Hence if someone carried the gene knowing the odds were not in their favor, and that they will likely develop cancer at some point in their lives because of this gene, why would you not be proactive? Why wait till it occurs and deal with the emotional, psychological, physical, life-limiting impact of it on not only yourself, but your families? Having either your breasts or ovaries removed are huge decisions that impact women, two very things that make you a 'woman'. Most women love their breasts, and their ovaries - but they are not required for sustenance of life, if that makes sense.
What Jolie is doing is raising awareness in women who many not otherwise have that discussion with their physician. In order to get to breast/ovarian emoval for genetic mutation, you need to consult with multiple physicians: breast/gyn surgeon, oncologist, genetic counselor, etc. So it's not like healthcare providers are holding their knives waiting for gullible women to come through so they can take their ovaries/breasts out. Its a lengthy process, that takes multiple discussions and risks/benefits are discussed, and patients make informed decisions.
I get it why she did it. There was like a 87% probability that she could get breast cancer because of BRCA1 gene. I am trying to draw parallels to other signals, and H pylori came to mind. Now I don't know what percent of people that get H Pylori infections go on and eventually get esophageal cancer, but wouldn't you say by having full or partial gasterectomy they will be minimizing that risk?
Re: Angelina Jolie had surgery to remove ovaries
^I think you mean gastric instead of esophageal cancer. Essentially we can take everything out that could have cancer :p As I said before H.pylori is treatable with pills, and risk is decreased after it's treated, hence gastrectomy is unnecessary from the get go.