Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carried a gene that made it extremely likely she would get breast cancer.

The Oscar-winning actress and partner to Brad Pitt made the announcement in the form of an op-ed she authored for Tuesday’s New York Times under the headline, “My Medical Choice.” She writes that between early February and late April she completed three months of surgical procedures to remove both breasts.

Jolie, 37, writes that she made the choice with thoughts of her six children after watching her own mother die too young from breast cancer.

“My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56,” Jolie writes. “She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.”

She writes that, “They have asked if the same could happen to me.”

Jolie said that after genetic testing she learned she carries the “faulty” BRCA1 gene and had an 87 percent chance of getting the disease herself.

She said she has kept the process private so far, but wrote about with hopes of helping other women.

“I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made,” Jolie writes. “My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

In an industry first, Pfizer Inc will begin selling Viagra directly to patients on its website.

That’s right, men still will need a prescription to buy the erectile dysfunction pill on viagra.com, but they no longer have to face a pharmacist to get it filled.

Another bonus: Pfizer is offering three free pills with the first order and 30% off the second one.

If Pfizer’s move works, other drugmakers could begin selling other medicines that are rampantly counterfeited and sold online, particularly treatments for non-urgent conditions seen as embarrassing.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a state judge has struck down New York’s ban on large sugary drinks today, saying the regulations issued by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office were “fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences.”

In his ruling, New York Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling called the ban a patchwork of “uneven enforcement” that would affect venues differently “within a particular city block, much less the city as a whole.” Its “loopholes” would ultimately defeat the purpose of the regulations, he added.

Tingling also accused the city Board of Health of overstepping its bounds in approving the first-of-its kind restriction last year. The board’s mission is to safeguard New York residents against diseases, but only when they face imminent danger: “That has not been been demonstrated,” wrote Tingling. The city-wide ban, set to kick in tomorrow, would have prohibited venues from mobile food carts to restaurants from selling sugar-laden drinks bigger than 16 oz.

Are you considering donating sperm to that awesome couple you know? You might want to consider it… A sperm donor in the U.S. is fighting an effort to force him to pay child support for a child conceived through artificial insemination by a lesbian couple.

William Marotta told sources he’s “a little scared about where this is going to go, primarily for financial reasons.”

When the 46-year-old donated sperm to Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner in 2009, Marotta relinquished all parental rights, including financial responsibility to the child. When Bauer and Schreiner filed for state assistance in Kansas this year, the state demanded the donor’s name so it could collect child support for the now 3-year-old girl.

The state contends the agreement between Marotta and the women is not valid because Kansas law requires a licensed physician to perform artificial insemination.

“If a sperm donor makes his contribution through a licensed physician and a child is conceived, the donor is held harmless under state statue. In cases where the parties do not go through a physician or a clinic, there remains the question of who actually is the father of a child or children,” Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department for Children and Families, said in a statement.

Bauer and Schreiner have said they fully support Marotta’s efforts to fight the state’s request. When Bauer was diagnosed in March with what she calls “a significant illness” that prevents her from working, Schreiner sought health insurance for their daughter from the state. The DCF told Schreiner if she didn’t provide the sperm donor’s name, it would deny any health benefits because she was withholding information.

Marotta said Monday he doesn’t resent Schreiner for giving the state his name.

“I resent the fact that Jennifer was pressured into doing that in the first place,” he said. “That was wrong — wrong by the state.”

Marotta and his wife, Kimberly, have no biological children but care for foster children.

Medium rare steak has been ruined forever: According to new studies, more than 90% of beef producers use a process called mechanical tenderization, which can push bacteria including E. coli deep inside the meat.

Such bacteria only lives on the surface of meat, which is why it’s theoretically safe to eat it rare. But mechanical tenderization, which pokes meat with blades and needles in an effort to make it less tough, can lead to meat filled with poop.

The procedure has officially led to at least eight recalls and 100 illnesses in the past 10 years, but some suspect it has actually caused many more.

The Kansas City Star undertook a yearlong investigation into the process, and recounts stories of two people who contracted E. coli infections after eating medium-rare steak at Applebee’s. Mechanically tenderized meat is frequently sold to grocery stores, family-style restaurants, hotels, and group homes. Grocery stores often don’t know it’s been tenderized, and the meat usually isn’t labeled, so consumers may have no idea whether they’re eating it.

Sir Ian McKellen is so cool he has been living with prostate cancer for seven years like it’s nothing to worry about.

McKellen,73, tells sources that the diagnosis is far from a death sentence.

“When you have got it you monitor it and you have to be careful it doesn’t spread. But if it is contained in the prostate, it’s no big deal,” he says.

“Many, many die from it, but it’s one of the cancers that is totally treatable so I have ‘wasteful watching.’ I am examined regularly and it’s just contained, it’s not spreading. I’ve not had any treatment,” he adds.

Although prostate cancer can pose a serious health risk if left untreated, the X-Men actor maintains that detection is key.

“I have heard of people dying from prostate cancer, and they are the unlucky ones, the people who didn’t know they had got it and it went on the rampage. But at my age if it is diagnosed, its not life threatening,” he says.

He recalls his diagnosis, saying, “You are told what the situation is: you can have an operation but there is no point [in] me having an operation because there is no need for it,” he says. “What they are concerned about is the cancer going to spread outside the prostate? If it doesn’t you are fine. How do you know if it is spreading? You keep being tested.”

I knew it: Grapefruits are poison!At least if you are taking medication…

Research suggests that a substance in the fruit deactivate enzymes in the body that are supposed to break down the drugs; thus far more of the drug gets into one’s system.”One tablet with a glass of grapefruit juice can be like taking five or 10 tablets with a glass of water,” says a researcher. But the medical community is dangerously unaware of these effects, the researchers say.

The number of medications known to prompt the interaction has soared from 17 in 2008 to 43 this year, scientists say. Among them are blood pressure and cancer drugs, statins, as well as immune-suppressing drugs taken after organ transplants, the BBC reports.

Effects include kidney damage, altered heartbeat, stomach bleeding, and sudden death. Citrus fruits like limes and Seville oranges can cause the same problem, and other foods can be problematic, too, says an expert: Milk, for instance, can prevent antibiotics’ absorption. “Pharmacists are the best port of call for anyone concerned about how their diet may affect their medication,” the expert says.

Two Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders agreed to have their heads shaved following the Colts win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Why would they do it? Megan M. and Crystal B are joining over two dozen Colts players who also shaved their heads to support Coach Chuck Pagano, who is currently undergoing Chemotherapy treatments for Leukemia.

The cheerleaders got in the game when Blue, the team’s mascot, issued a challenge, asking Colts cheerleaders to raise $10,000 for leukemia research by November 25, and getting their heads shaved. Megan and Crystal have raised over $22,000 so far but have no plans to quit now.

Local Indianapolis salons are donating $10 to “Blue’s ChuckStrong Challenge” for every person who agrees to have their heads shaved. 800 fans have had their heads shaved so far, and more than $250,000 has been raised for leukemia research by Colts representatives since the “ChuckStrong” campaign began.