After news of Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy after a positive genetic testing for cancer, women across the world have demanded their physicians to perform the tests on them to see if they also have a cancer predisposition. Now, doctors have found that the genetic testing for cancer is even more necessary for Jewish Ashkenazi women, as they have a higher tendency to possess the BRAC1 and BRAC2 mutations that might lead to ovarian and breast cancer.

A recent Israeli study has shown that all Jewish Ashkenazi women over 30 should go through genetic testing for cancer, even if they have no family history of the disease. As a matter of fact, unless they go through genetic testing for cancer, these women could go on to have the disease and perhaps even find out too late, when in their case it's actually possible to go through a preventive procedure.

Dr. Ephrat Levy-Lahad, director of the Fuld Family Department of Genetics at Shaare Zedek Medical Center is the head of the new findings, which will be published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Regarding the genetic testing for cancer in Jewish Ashkenazi women, Dr. Levy-Lahad said last month at the hospital's second annual breast cancer symposium, according to the Canadian Jews News: "We should be testing women who are still healthy at a stage when we can prevent the disease."

Genetic testing for cancer became a household exam last year, after Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie published a letter in The New York Times called 'My Medical Choice,' speaking out about the fact that she had tested positive for a faulty BRAC1 gene, which can lead to ovarian and breast cancer - which her mother had suffered before her. In her letter, Jolie talked about her choice of going through a preventive double mastectomy procedure, which decreased her chances of getting the disease.