TIME: For Breast Cancer, It’s Not Nature vs. Nurture—It’s Both
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Flickr Creative Commons
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In Dr. Ornish’s latest column on Time.com, he writes about the public criticism that ensued after Angelina Jolie decided to go through with a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy. Jolie has a BRCA1 mutation that greatly increases her risk of breast cancer.
Whether or not a person will develop cancer is not always about his or her genes.
Dr. Ornish argues that while he respects her decision, whether or not a person will develop cancer is not always about his or her genes.
He writes:
To say that diet and lifestyle may play a role in breast cancer does not mean that people who change their lifestyle are blaming themselves or that you can always prevent breast cancer by eating and living more healthfully. You do what you can even though there is not certainty.
Having the BRCA mutation significantly increases the risk of breast cancer, but it is not always the only factor. Lifestyle choices may increase or decrease the risk of breast cancer, but that knowledge is an opportunity to empower ourselves, not to blame.
Read the full column here.
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