For the past three years, breast cancer-related organizations and advocates have debated at what age and how often women should receive preventative screenings in the form of mammograms. Despite a United States Preventative Services Task Force report that suggested women benefit most from receiving one mammogram every two years after the age of 50, many have still heralded an annual mammogram after 40 (or even earlier if you have a family history of the disease) as the safest approach. A new study conducted on approximately 1,800 women in the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, ... Read More
Should You or Shouldn’t You? New Evidence in the Great Mammogram Debate
September 11, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Mammograms: The Year of Living Dangerously?
June 27, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
MY 65-YEAR-OLD MOTHER’S BREAST CANCER was detected after a routine annual mammogram. In the weeks after diagnosis, we were ushered in to see radiologists, a medical oncologist, a surgical oncologist, the insurance liaison, and more nurses than I could count. They all smiled reassuringly and told my mother something resembling, “The good news is that we caught it early!” Those words were a comfort. “Early detection” has become a rallying cry for women, breast cancer survivors, and supporters alike, across the United States and beyond. As breast cancer has evolved into one of the ... Read More
