What do you think of the new advice to skip mammograms in 40s, start at 50?
by 
Jim in a Nautilus COAT
ANSWERS: 4
-
It tends to run in families so if you have relatives, especially on your mom's side, who have had breast cancer, you need to start early with the mammograms. If you don't have breast cancer on either side, I think 50's is okay. I do think yearly physicals are necessary of course and part of that should include a breast exam by your physician.
-
I can't see your link Jim. However, I think 1 every 2 or 3 years starting in the 40s might be wise. After all, women's hormones do start changing before the 50's. I have heard mammographies can cause cancer if you have them too often and that the physical impact of the machine is like torture. I am sure that can not be good for one.
-
I think it's ridiculous...and potentially dangerous. Now, I do have family history of cancer, including breast cancer, so I do get a mammogram every year (starting when I was 37). However, women DO get cancer prior to their 40s, and don't necessarilly have family history. Seriously, where does a government task force get off saying women don't need this? How can they also say that self exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them? Is anyone on this task force a doctor?
-
Early detection is part of why Americas cancer survival rates are superior to those of countries with socialized medicine. . I find the alleged horrors of 'overtesting' to be overstated. Sure the longer you wait to test something correlates with more accurate positives. But the reason people get false positives is because the tests are very sensitive and can thus detect cancers so early that surgery can easily remove them, barely leaving a scratch. . As opposed to lopping off an entire breast, something that women tend to fear greatly. . And to revisit my constant harangue against socialized medicine and its progenitors: up to a point paying for early testing saves money by identifying diseases when they are cheapest to treat. Past that point you end paying a LOT of money out to test but identify many fewer diseases. . The result is this: If the people in this age bracket can't come up with a decent incidence of cancer as a population then screw 'em.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC