The most important mammgraphy risk is not that the radiation causes cancer - it's overdiagnosis and overtreatment of lesions that would never have caused any harm if left alone. It's clear that many of these lesions actually disappear on their own if left alone, but they are all treated like full-blown cancer. Please see a study in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul09_1/b258 for more info. Yes, women lose their breasts and health because they had harmless lesions all the time. Women who are screened via mammography are actually much more likely to lose their breasts than their non-screened sisters, despite what we have been told.
We should all be able to opt for screening mammo if we want, but we should receive accurate information about both the benefits and risks. In the US, no one ever hears about overdiagnosis unless they do a lot of research. It's time we get all the facts!
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The most important mammgraphy risk is not that the radiation causes cancer - it's overdiagnosis and overtreatment of lesions that would never have caused any harm if left alone. It's clear that many of these lesions actually disappear on their own if left alone, but they are all treated like full-blown cancer. Please see a study in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul09_1/b258 for more info. Yes, women lose their breasts and health because they had harmless lesions all the time. Women who are screened via mammography are actually much more likely to lose their breasts than their non-screened sisters, despite what we have been told.
We should all be able to opt for screening mammo if we want, but we should receive accurate information about both the benefits and risks. In the US, no one ever hears about overdiagnosis unless they do a lot of research. It's time we get all the facts!
August 12, 2009 - 5:31pmThis Comment
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