New Mammogram Guidelines: How many deaths are enough?
Written by Ann Pietrangelo on November 20th, 2009 in Health Care Policy, In The News, Linked Articles.
Seventeen percent of deaths from breast cancer occur in women who are diagnosed in their 40s. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 there will be 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer in the United States, causing 40,170 deaths. That’s a lot of deaths, and no one is disputing that early detection is our best weapon.
Yet, flying in the face of everything we’ve heard for the last several decades, the word from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force report released earlier this week is that here is no benefit to performing breast self-exams. Unless you are in a high risk group, you can wait until you are 50-years old before getting your baseline mammogram, and then repeat only every other year.
If seventeen percent of deaths from breast cancer occur in women who are diagnosed in their 40s, I can’t help but wonder… how many deaths is enough to make screening worthwhile?
Please read this post in its entirety and don’t be shy about leaving a comment on this important topic in women’s health:
New Mammogram Guidelines: How many deaths are enough?
Photo: U.S. Centers for Disease Control
