Benefits Of A Annual Mammogram Is A Waste Time And That It 's Not A Solution For Breast Cancer

{text:bookmark-start} Mammograms {text:bookmark-end} Mammograms are important to have because it not only affects women over 40, but it affects young and men also. A mammogram (also called a mammography exam) is a safe, low-dose x-ray of the breast. A high-quality mammogram is the most effective tool for detecting breast cancer early. Early detection of breast cancer may allow more treatment options. It could even mean saving your breast or your life. Mammograms are probably the most important tool doctors have to help them diagnose, evaluate, and follow women who've had breast cancer. Mammograms don't prevent breast cancer, but they can save lives by finding breast cancer as early as possible. There are four important things to know

Nurse Practitioner Veneta Masson, author of “Why I don’t Get Mammograms” argues the topic of how routine mammograms don’t save lives. Masson being a health care professional has been well educated on maintaining optimum health and preventing disease. Though she may have the knowledge and awareness, she however uses faulty generalizations as to why she does not receive annual mammogram

Why are mammograms vital to one 's health? The most important reason why is because mammography detects breast cancer. "Around 12% of women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer" (BreastCancer.Org, 2016). The most common type of breast cancer is called invasive ductal carcinoma. "This type of breast cancer is found in 80% of women" (BreastCancer.Org, 2015). Invasive ductal carcinoma remains to be a serious problem for men and women, and here is why.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the US. About 40,000 women die from breast cancer each year, making it “the second leading cause of cancer death among women” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) requires insurers to “provide coverage for and shall not impose any cost sharing requirements for” preventive services which are “in the current recommendation of the United States Preventive Services Task Force” (USPSTF). Nevertheless, the ACA makes an exception for breast cancer screening by stating that the USPSTF’s recommendation regarding mammogram “shall be considered the most current other than those issued in or around November 2009”. By using this legislative tool, the federal government mandates health insurers to provide coverage for annual or biennial mammograms in women aged 40 and older (US Preventive Services Task Force, 2013).

Mammograms are used for screening purposes and for accurate diagnosis of breast cancer or diseases. Screening and diagnostic mammograms are the two types of mammograms. National Cancer Institute (2016) states, “Screening mammograms usually involve two or more x-ray pictures, or images, of each breast. Diagnostic mammograms can also be used to check for breast cancer after a lump or other sign or symptom of the disease has been found”. There are several issues concerning mammograms such as false-positive results. In addition, screening is an issue with individuals with breast implants. False- positive results is could be caused if the individual is taking hormonal therapy or have dense breast tissue. National Cancer Institute (2016) explains, “More than 50% of women screened annually for 10 years in the United States will experience a

Being a woman is a huge risk factor, this is because women are 100 times more likely to develop Breast cancer than men, although it can develop in men.

Highlights from the 2016 National Comprehensive Cancer Network Conference (NCCN) indicated there was agreement on the efficacy of film mammography screening (Bevers, Bibbins-Domengo, & Oeffinger, 2016). However, The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the NCCN disagreed on two items: when to begin screening (40, 45, or 50 years of age) and frequency of screening, annual versus biennial (Bevers, Bibbins-Domengo, & Oeffinger, 2016). The NCCN recommends annual screening to begin at 40 years of age after counseling for risks and benefits. Regarding reliability and validity, the USPSTF formulated its’ current recommendations based on eight randomized controlled trails and over 200 observational trials. The NCCN argues that the studies used by the USPTF were done in the 1970s and 1980s using single view scans and older techniques. The NCCN further argued that when studying real world observations using current state-of-the art mammography equipment, and adjusting for confounders, the mortality reduction is closer the 35% in certain populations, as opposed to, the 18% mortality rate cited by the USPSTF (Bevers, Bibbins-Domengo, & Oeffinger, 2016). With regards to benefits, the NCCN argued that women screened are less likely to be diagnosed with advance stage breast cancer, and

Three-quarters of all breast cancer patients are not in any of the groups considered at increased risk for breast cancer, indicating that not all risk factors are understood. As a result, doctors recommend that every woman should familiarize herself with the techniques for monthly breast self-examination. X-ray examination of the breasts, a technique called mammography, can detect tumors before they are large enough to be felt and increase the odds for successful treatment. The American Cancer Society recommends that women over age 40

Currently, mammography is the main modality used in diagnosing breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women and is currently the second leading cause of death among Canadian women (Komen 2015). Breast cancer can occur in men but this is uncommon. According to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation an estimate in 2015 suggests that 25,000 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and that 1 in 30 women will die from the cancer. On average in 2015 the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation collected data that estimates 5,000 women will die of breast cancer in Canada annually. However on the brighter side the Canadian

Women should receive more information about benefits and harm of screening to support informed decision making about breast cancer screening

I also asked some questions that women might ask before getting a mammogram, like, does it hurt? How much does it cost? She said “it can be uncomfortable, but for me personally, it doesn’t hurt”, and for cost she said “it’s around 300 dollars total, there is a mammogram fee of around 240-260 dollars and a CAD fee (computer aided detection) of around 50 dollars”. Some women tend to not get regular checkups and hold off on being examined even if they feel a lump, and because of this the death rate of breast cancer is very high. So I asked Kim

The information I feel important to remember is that to have it done regularly because it can to detect other breast diseases and most of all, the serious disease, cancer. I am very excited for my future career specialized in radiologic science.

What if when you go in to get your regular mammogram, you are told that there is something abnormal and you have surgery but in the end it turns out you did not need it? Surgical oncologist Professor Michael Baum, specialises in breast cancer treatment, and was one of the creators of the screening programme when it was set up in 1988. In the editorial “‘I set up breast cancer screening - now I’m it’s biggest critic’: Top doctor argues why mammograms ‘do more harm than good’,” published March 3rd 2016, Prof. Michael Baum speaks to the readers of the Daily Mail about the harmful risks mammograms can have on women. Baum expresses this concern about mammograms and tries to convince the audience of improvements

Mammography. To this day, mammography remains the mainstay of screening for breast cancer. Mammograms are an x-ray picture of the breast, and

Breast cancer accounts for one third of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States (Cauley, et al., 2007). The first sign in the process of this disease is a lump that forms around the breasts. For this reason, it is necessary to get the yearly mammograms once a woman reaches a certain age. Also, monthly self-examinations can aid in finding breast cancer early. If this condition is found early enough, chances of survival are abundant. Most women who get breast cancer are older than 50 with 86% of the deaths occurring in this age group (Cauley, et al., 2007). Postmenopausal women have a higher risk for breast cancer, because the risk increases when levels of endogenous estradiol rise (Cauley, et al., 2007). Breast cancer is the most common cancer that occurs in women. This epidemic has a higher incidence rate among white women than in African American women, but African American women have a higher mortality rate (Breast Cancer Risk Factors, 2010). White women are more apt to develop this disease than any other ethnicity. However, in women under 45, breast cancer is more common in African American women (Breast Cancer Risk Factors, 2010).