Celebrities have a huge impact on people across the globe and when they have health problems, the media would cover it for the public to be aware of . In 2013, Angelina Jolie announced that she made a decision to have her breasts removed to prevent cancer since she has a family history of the said deadly disease. A new study recently found out that women report better knowledge and awareness of breast reconstruction options.
"The key finding was that Mrs. Jolie's announcement did indeed affect the public opinion going beyond gene-positivity (and) actually improving the awareness that breast reconstruction can be achieved with the use of one's own tissue and that it can be done during the breast-removal operation," said Dr. David Benjamin Lumenta, of Medical University of Graz told Reuters through an e-mail.
"This is the first prospective report to prove the media's effect on the health care-related issue of breast cancer among the general public," Dr. Lumenta added.
She underwent double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery as she was under treatment for three months. She shared this news in an article in The New York Times. Apparently, Jolie is a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation, which increased her risk of developing certain cancers like breast and ovarian, both leading causes of death among women worldwide.
Her mother, aunt and grandmother all died of cancer. Jolie also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
In the study published in the journal Cancer, they conducted an online survey on 1,000 women about breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, reports Medical News Today. The study started by March 2013, coincidentally before Jolie's operation was made public.
Initially, the study aims to study the perception of women about their breasts and reconstruction. Then, in June 2013, after Jolie's announcement, they asked another 1,000 women.
Generally, there was an increase in awareness among women. For example, 89% of women before the announcement knew about breast reconstruction after breast removal and it jumped to 93% in June. In terms of their knowledge that the surgery could be done using one's tissue, it increased from 58% to 69%. There was a large increase on their awareness that breast removal and reconstruction could be done in the same surgery, it increased from 41% to 60%.
Twenty percent of the women after Jolie's announcement said that the coverage made them deal with the topic at a more personal level and that they were made aware of procedures that can be done to prevent the occurrence of cancer.
