Little known facts in the Jewish community may concern the high risk of breast cancer for the Ashkenazi [ European Jews].

During a breast cancer awareness exposition, "Power In Knowing," that took place at Florida International University's Kovens Conference Center in North Miami earlier this year, Talia Donenberg, a chronic granulomatous disease certified genetic counselor at the University of Miami, mentioned that the Ashkenazi account for 10-12 percent of hereditary breast cancer as Jewish women are five times more likely to be carriers of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation that makes them more likely to get breast cancer over their lifetimes.

"The chance of carrying the [BRCA1 or BRCA2] mutation is one in 40 in the Jewish population and one in 400 in the non-Jewish population," Donenberg said during an interview.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida's 20th District is a breast cancer survivor who happens to be an Ashkenazi Jew who also tested positive for the BRCA2 gene. However, despite being an advocate for transforming the approach towards breast cancer and working towards its eradication before being diagnosed for the disease, Wasserman Schultz didn't know that Ashkenazi Jews were at a high risk when she found a lump in her breast while doing a routine self-exam.

"As much as an advocate as I was, I didn't know that they were at far greater risk and if I didn't know, then imagine how many tens of thousands of Jews don't know," she said.

Since Wasserman Schultz shared her story a year and half ago, she introduced the Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act that passed as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March and is now in its implementation stage. The EARLY Act directs the Centers for Disease Control to develop and implement a national education campaign about the threat breast cancer poses to young women of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds and the heightened risks certain groups face. The legislation also seeks to inform medical professionals about the distinct risk factors and treatments, specific to young women under 40.

Her work with breast cancer awareness doesn't stop with the bill as she recently sponsored a resolution that passed in the House of Representatives that designates the last week of September as National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and bridges September's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and October's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The resolution also recognize the last Wednesday of September as National Previvor Day.

"It's really important that I use my position in Congress and my public profile to raise awareness," Wasserman Schultz said regarding her breast cancer awareness work. "If people hear my story, then maybe they'll be more likely to get a mammogram, or do a self exam in the shower, or go to a doctor and get a clinical exam, or make sure that they communicate with their families about their family history."

Like Wasserman Schultz, Ft. Lauderdale resident Lainie Schultz is an Ashkenazi Jew who has battled breast cancer and who also didn't know about this high risk when she was diagnosed two years ago at the age of 24.

"I never knew that but in every doctor appointment I went to, they asked me if I was an Ashkenazi Jew and it blew my mind because you don't hear a lot about it,' Schultz, 26, said.

Her breast cancer diagnosis was a scare for both Shultz and her friends who were shocked to hear that someone as young as she was could get the disease.

Boca Raton resident Katherine Fleishman, the founding president of the charity Think Pink Rocks that raises awareness about early detection and genetic testing for breast cancer and funds, said that the organization was started in an effort to get the message of breast cancer awareness to young people.

"That message is to know your family history, especially if you're a Jewish woman," Fleishman said. "You need to know your family history regarding breast cancer and ovarian cancer and if your family carries the breast cancer gene."