Insulting!!

Nothing insults me more than being lied to by a statistic.  It may well be that
85% of women whose mothers have died of a geneticly-linked breast
cancer have gone on to develop the disease.  But those afflicted mothers may
have shared other characteristics, such as being obese, or alcoholic, or living
in the rust belt. Daughters need to compare themselves to the population as whole,
and the genetic risk should be weighted.  In my humble opinion.

Linking illnesses to genes is tricky business. Genes code for proteins, but
variability can take many forms. There are a few illnesses where failiure
to perform may build up toxins.  But failiure to protect sounds like a racket
to me.

 Pour rappel, le gène BRCA1 est associé à un risque majoré de 70% de cancer du sein et de 40% de l'ovaire avant 70 ans

The above, from a Figaro article on the breast cancer genes, alleges that the 
presence of these gens marks up the risk by 70%; it is not, by itself, a near
certainty.

http://sante.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2010/09/01/10390-cancer-sein-benefices-chirurgie-preventive?position=6&keyword=mastectomie