Mar 27, 2015

“Good Celebrity" Angelina became Science Hero by removing Ovaries to prevent Cancer

She belongs in the good celebrity category and there are no doubts about it. Angelina Julie Pitt revealed that she had her ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed because of cancer fears. Doctors say that because of her family history, it will reduce her risk by almost 90 percent.

For better or worse, celebrities have a way of making us think. While many celebrities shun away the spotlight outside their particular medium, some good ones actually make use of their fame to help mankind by recording public service announcements, endorsing charities, or raising awareness of important social issues.

The BRCA1 gene mutation puts women at about a 5x greater risk of breast cancer and an almost 30x greater risk of ovarian cancer. Those numbers are both significant and scary. Julie's mother died of ovarian cancer at age 56 (having also been diagnosed with breast cancer), as did her grandmother. This strong maternal family history led her to get a blood test, which confirmed that she indeed had inherited the BRCA1 mutation.

Angelina made the audacious and brave decision not to keep it a secret. Rather than hiding (which she very easily could have done), she openly stated that she was sharing her condition with the world to raise awareness, helping to educate other women who may be similarly affected.

She wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times on March 24, just a week after the procedure. In it she detailed the latest (and hopefully last) chapter in her ordeal and why she continues to undertake it. Though she admitted that she is still not completely out of the woods (still carrying a 3-5 percent risk of both cancers), she revealed that her main reasons for her candor were to raise awareness and to let women know that they have options, surgical and otherwise.

The decision of mastectomy and removing of Fallopian tubes and ovaries do not spare her but she used it to tell other women that they can save their selves if they want to. As a celebrity it was not an easy thing for her because she lives perpetually in the public eye, is the most successful and famous couple.

The step taken by Angelina terms her as a Science hero while some criticize her for being so brave and bold; they sees her as a foolish women while some see her as a Hero. Her husband Brad Pitt was with her in hours when got the new of surgery even he supported her.

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