I know this is not about MAV but wonder what your thoughts are on this …
Scott if you would prefer I can move it to Front Porch…
New guidelines on breast self-exams drawing criticism
By Kasey Fowler, Staff Writer
The medical community is in an uproar about newly released guidelines from U.S. Preventive Services Task Force regarding mammograms for women under age 50 and breast self-exams.
USPSTF released new guidelines Monday stating a woman should wait until age 50 to get routine mammograms, because according to a study, doing so at age 40 presents potential harm. The panel also said breast self- exams do no good and women shouldn’t be taught to do them.
According to a statement released by the Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, ACS will stand by its long-standing recommendation for annual screenings starting at age 40.
“The American Cancer Society continues to recommend annual screening using mammography and clinical breast examination for all women beginning at age 40,” Brawley said. “Our experts make this recommendation having reviewed virtually all the same data reviewed by the USPSTF, but also additional data that the USPSTF did not consider. When recommendations are based on judgments about the balance of risks and benefits, reasonable experts can look at the same data and reach different conclusions.”
I was diagnosis with breast cancer at age 42 with a routine mammogram. Luckily it was in its early stages and treated by lumpectomy only. If I had waited until 50 for a mammogram would have been a totally different story. Because I was diagnosed at 42 my youngest sister (I have 5 sisters) started having mammograms at age 33. Luckily for her, her breast cancer was diagnosed at age 38 by routine mammogram. Her cancer was early but more developed than mine and she had a double mastecomy. She had a section that was micro-invasive although it has not spread, she had clear lymph nodes. If she had waited until 50, I shutter to think how much that would have shortened her life. If these recommendations are just a ploy to cut costs of health care by both the government and insurance companies, I am appalled. I will continue to recommend that women get mammograms early and often. My daughter will start having mammograms by age 30 because of this strong history.
I’m another one who was diagnosed with bc before the age of 50 (at age 48). It was the routine mammogram that found something suspicious. Like Joanmac, mine was very early and I was also treated with lumpectomy only.
This is a part of the statement put out by Dr. Marisa Weiss at breastcancer.org - The proposed new guidelines are based on research that looks at the effect of breast cancer screening on society from a public health perspective. This means the researchers were looking at how changing breast cancer screening guidelines would affect the overall public, rather than individual women. In proposing the changes, the Task Force members said that starting mammograms later in life and doing mammograms less often would save a large amount of money. It also means that about 3% more women would die from breast cancer each year. The Task Force members felt that the amount of money saved (from fewer mammograms and side effects of extra biopsies and treatment) was greater than the value of more lives saved (3% fewer women surviving breast cancer).
Needless to say she is against these new guidelines. And I won’t even begin to start in about the atrocity of why they think it is okay for 3% more women to die of bc or question what kind of people are on the task force.