Comments on: Breast screening recommendations? Phooey!

By: tamilb

tamilb — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:40:28 +0000

I wanted to thank all of you for your comments and to let you know I left off a 0 in the number of deaths I calculated. It was actually 150,969 cancer deaths for women 40-49 given their calculations. I agree that mammography is not full-proof, but it’s something and to discourage self breast exams should be a crime.

Also, I wanted to add that there was not one oncologist or breast cancer specialist on the panel. The closest thing was a pediatrician.

Jo, I’ve always been told that the radiation was nominal and from my point of view, it beats not catching the cancer. I agree there needs to be a better technology for younger women. I guess everyone needs to make their own decision.

By: Lisa Hicks

Lisa Hicks — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:17:01 +0000

Tami, I agree with you conpletely! I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 37. I found the lump myself during a breast self exam. I was appalled and angered by the new recommendations of this task force. How ridiculous these finding are!!!! I, too, would be dead now if not for BSE and screening mammogram! For those who want to read the full report, below is the link to the web site for the task force.

http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:32:39 +0000

Hi Tami!

I have to say I’m very perplexed by the findings reported by the task force myself, but not for the same reasons. From what I have read, they’ve focused on the anxiety of false positives as their reason. Can that really be their strongest argument? I need to find a copy of their report. I’m not saying we should do away with mammography, but I have my suspicions about the efficacy for women age 40-49 – and it’s not due to the undo stress created by false positives.

Please understand – I have a sister with breast cancer and one that had a suspicious mammogram (both in their 40′s), so I was all over ways to get them back to good health. A freak accident caused me to look at the safety of mammograms (radiation, compression of cancerous tissue, etc.) and what I found was very alarming.

I did hours and hours of research on this very topic and some of the findings suggest: 1) mammograms can “cause” more cancer than they detect in that age category. 2) While radiation exposure is small, it is cumulative. Some say it increases your odds 1-2% each time depending on how many films are taken. What does that mean for you in 10 years? 3) The mortality rate for women who found something because of a mammogram was no lower than women who found the lump themselves.

If you read reports and articles from health advocates in other countries they think we have gone “mammography crazy” in this country. And I hate to say it, but mammography is a multi-billion (with a B) dollar industry.

Mammography is pretty much a sacred cow for many groups, so my comments may not be welcome, but I remind you my only goal was to protect myself and my own family. It takes some time to do all the research, but don’t let someone else make such an important health choice for you. It’s rarely a black and white issue.

I also agree with those at http://www.youngsurvival.org – there needs to be better screening options, especially for younger women. The harsh reality is this; those vested in the mammography industry will spend millions to keep their competition at bay. These same groups also have a lot of control over many non-profits, so it’s going to be up to us to push these technologies forward.

For me, after a lot of consideration I selected breast thermography as a screening tool and if I did feel a lump I would push to have an MRI.