Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie made international news this month when she announced she’d be getting a double mastectomy to prevent contracting breast cancer. She didn’t have the disease, but her doctors estimated that she had about an 87 percent chance of developing it.

Why was she at such high risk? As BBC News explains, Jolie inherited a mutated gene from her mother, who died of ovarian cancer at 56. But all women, even those without a family history of the disease, should take steps to prevent the onset of breast cancer, as it is the most commonly occurring cancer in the world right now and appearing more and more.

On average, women in the U.S. have about a 12 percent chance of developing breast cancer, according to the article. Lifestyle choices can increase that chance — if you are overweight or drink a lot of alcohol, you’re more likely to develop breast cancer.

But they can also reduce it: Healthy eating and exercise help, as does breastfeeding, if you have a baby.

Experts recommend that women 40 or older who have an average risk of breast cancer receive yearly mammograms. You can read more about your risk of developing breast cancer and how to reduce it at Breastcancer.org.