Angelina Jolie in pre-emptive action

Breast cancer is no stranger to Sri Lanka. It is a killer disease affecting not only women but also men. Being old, lack of childbearing and lack of breastfeeding, higher hormone levels, family history, diet and obesity can also lead to breast cancer. Worldwide, breast cancer accounts for 22.9 percent of all cancers and it is the second most common cancer after lung cancer. It is 100 times more common in women than in men, but men tend to have poorer outcomes due to delays in diagnosis. Survival rates for breast cancer vary depending on the type, stage, treatment, and geographical location of the patient.

Normally, breast cancer shows an inverted nipple, lump or skin dimpling. The first noticeable symptom of breast cancer is typically a lump that feels different from the rest of the breast tissues. Breast cancers can be detected early by a mammogram.

Indications of breast cancer other than a lump may include thickening of the breast tissues, one breast becoming larger or lower, a nipple changing position or shape or becoming inverted, a rash on or around a nipple, discharge from nipple/s, constant pain in part of the breast or armpit, and swelling beneath the armpit or around the collarbone. Unexplained weight loss can occasionally be a symptom. Bone or joint pains can sometimes be manifestations of metastatic breast cancer.

Most symptoms of breast disorders, including most lumps, do not turn out to represent underlying breast cancer. Less than 20 percent of lumps for example are cancer. But appearance of a new symptom should be taken seriously because of the possibility of a breast cancer risk at any age.

Angelina Jolie is a 37 year old very pretty American actress turned screen writer and film director. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards for her acting and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress some time ago. Angelina shot to fame worldwide through the character Lara Croft in the film Lara Croft Tomb Raider. She has acted in more than 40 films and has been nominated for various awards 18 times. She has often been cited as the world's "most beautiful woman"

Jolie promotes humanitarian causes, as a Special Envoy and former Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Jolie has been on field missions around the world and meeting with refugees and internally displaced persons in more than 30 countries. She has established several charitable organizations around the world.

Showing that she has a loving heart for children, Jolie adopted her first child, a seven-month-old in 2002 from an orphanage in Cambodia. In 2003, she took custody of another child in Namibia. At the time, she was married to actor Bob Thornton. Jolie then adopted a daughter, a six-month-old from an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2005. By this time, she has separated from her husband and had formed a relationship with actor Brad Pitt.

They had their first child in 2006. They sold the first pictures of the child to People and Hello magazines for a total of $7.6 million and donated all profits to charities serving African children. In 2007, Jolie adopted a son, three-year-old from an orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Post adoption pictures of that son was sold for more than $3 million to same magazines and the money was donated to children's charities. In 2008, she gave birth to twins, a son and a daughter. The rights for the first images of them were jointly sold to People and Hello magazines for $14 million (Rs.1,765 millions)-the most expensive celebrity pictures ever taken. The proceeds were donated to their charity foundation.

The news came on Wednesday that three months ago, Angelina, the mother of six , the world famous actress, once tipped to be the most beautiful woman in the world, has had both breast removed due to cancer scare. She had the courage to come out sharing her experience with millions of other breast cancer victims.

She wrote " my doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman," I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could.

I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. "For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options, I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices."

It is not easy in a country like Sri Lanka to come out as Angelina Jolie with an open mind. Even if you hide the truth, people will still talk behind your back. However if you can share your experience for the benefit of millions of others like you, you are none other than a goddess.