Are preventive surgeries like the ones Angelina Jolie underwent justified?

Of course, everyone can do whatever they want with themselves. But it seems strange to me to advertise the removal of this or that organ, especially for a public person - they look at you, they look up to you, they imitate you. Unreasonable operations will begin in people who are not threatened by this problem. And if the breast can be removed without visible consequences for the body - not a vital organ, but if there is a risk of colon or brain cancer? Do you want to remove them too?

If I had been identified at risk BEFORE cancer was diagnosed, I would also gladly cut off all suspicious body parts in advance so as not to be afraid. It is a pity that nothing boded. But I will probably remove the breasts as soon as possible.

Because it is very difficult - cancer. And it's scary after cancer.

Angelina Jolie was tested for a gene mutation, the risk of developing the disease was assessed taking into account her pedigree. I think she did examinations for a number of other indicators. Most likely, the actress decided on a mastectomy not only on the basis of a genetic test - of course, an integrated approach is important here. A few years later, Jolie underwent surgery to remove the ovaries. This step is understandable, because women in natural menopause are at increased risk of ovarian cancer. For her, it was a justified preventive measure, given the BRCA1 gene mutation. But at the same time, any woman with a similar mutation should not immediately run and remove her reproductive organs, since each case is individual, and the risks consist not only of genetic predispositions, but also of biochemical changes, tumor markers and other indicators.

The BRCA1 gene is generally very large, and there may now be more than 1,500 mutations in it. To figure out which mutation is found in a person and how it will affect the development of the disease, you need to do a lot of work, look at all scientific articles on the topic - a geneticist is engaged in this.

If it is proved that a certain mutation increases the risk of occurrence cancer up to 87% (with Jolie this is an indicative clinical case), then you need to make operational decisions

They are justified, at least, by a comfortable mental state.

It has a great effect on the brain when you know that both your grandmother and mother died of cancer and when you see that all their chronic ailments are like this and you, even without knowing about the genes, you can experience it acutely. Taking into account also psychosomatic phenomena ...