If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Many individuals in the medical profession chalk disease up to genetics. And that is fair. Genetics play a big role. Yet studies continue to show that our lifestyle choices, although not 100 percent foolproof, play a huge role in making our genes for disease present themselves.
It used to be that if there was a name aligned with "choice," it was Sophie. "Choice" is now and maybe forever associated with Angelina Jolie.
There are no limits to the power of the mama. Mother energy is tender, fierce and unceasing. Think of Mother Nature. Today, we are redefining what Mama Power means.
After my sister died from breast cancer three years ago, I asked, during my mammogram, whether I should get tested for the breast cancer gene. I was warned that doing so, particularly if I tested positive for the gene, could mark me as an individual with a so-called pre-existing condition.
I don't know if my mother could have been saved, or simply had her life extended, if she had better access to medical care. It's possible that for her, there wasn't anything else to do. For so many other mothers though, that is not the case.
Should women have more choices after mastectomies and lumpectomies? Should lingerie brands do more to help meet their needs?
Angelina Jolie's openness about her decision to undergo mastectomies because of the BRCA1 mutation can help inspire countless women to face this difficult decision. Yet several obstacles exist that deserve attention, concerning doctors and costs of testing.
Angelina Jolie, who has visited many war-torn areas in the world as a goodwill ambassador to bring peace, is now visiting our homes to invite us to learn about and discuss cancer and preventive care and is trying to raise awareness of this serious disease.
What a week for Republicans! It started with Obama fighting off simultaneous scandals and 24 coming back this Fall. But as Spitzer and Reagan discuss, by Friday the Scandals Scorecard revealed more smoke than fire. Who'll tell FOX?
That's the type of week it's been, and the only way to see a silver lining is to point out that if you're going to have several scandals erupt, you might as well schedule them all for the same week.
Scandals real and imagined rocked Washington this week. See how good of a muckraker you are by taking our news quiz.
I admire Angelina for taking the unselfish view that she will do whatever it takes to be sure she will be around to parent her children. And I commend Angelina for making her decision public and thereby supporting other women who face an increased cancer risk.
I have been involved in research in this area for 17 years, since shortly after BRCA1 and BRCA2 were discovered, and I have no idea what I would do if I were a woman faced with this decision. The diagnosis of a mutation is just words on paper, but the risks they foreshadow are very real.
Much is made over the material girl's multitudes of metamorphosis. For those of you too young to remember, I speak of Madonna. And, yes, the Divine M...
Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy makes me want to do porn. She sort of already had that affect on me, being so stunningly sexy that I would enthusiastically go full tilt lesbian for her.
The fact that she made the announcement at all is significant. She could have kept her health issues private, just as she had done for the past several months. If and when the media learned of her surgery, she could have refused to comment.
