Cancer Screening

{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

Cancer screenings is done to look for cancer in the very early stages, before it spreads and becomes harder to treat and before you would start to see symptoms. Finding cancer early improves the chances of successful treatment. It can save your life.

Masson conducts a point in her article explaining that some women experience false positive mammograms and treated unnecessarily. She references from the Nordic Cochrane Centre information pamphlet that states “These women will have either a part of their breast or the whole breast removed, and they will often receive radiotherapy, and sometimes chemotherapy” (Masson, 2010). This can harvest a psychological strain on many women and cause increased distress and anxiety. Along with the emotional strain, direct financial costs to health services will be applied due to unnecessary procedures.

     Several tests can be run once symptoms are noticed to earmark the disease with a proper diagnosis. Some of the tests include; a biopsy of the tumor, X-rays, a CT scan, a skeletal survey, bone scans or bone marrow aspiration (fluid sample) and biopsy (tissue sample). Once diagnosed, the treatments begin to hinder any advancement the cancer would or could make. Possibly removing the cancer completely through surgery is a possibility, while others include chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and bone marrow transplantation. Many times these treatments can be used concurrently with one another.

These are facts that people has been through. People that smoke, consume alcohol regularly, and people who have a history of breast cancer in their immediate family are at risk the most. Women should be informed to catch any deadly tumors or growths before it is too late. Many women do not realize the risks or are even not aware of their family history. These are all reasons why they should regularly be screened.

Cancer is defined by the National Cancer Institute as ?the title given to a group of related diseases. All types of cancer are categorized by uncontrollable growth of cells that metastasize to surrounding tissues.? Cancer can develop at almost any part of the human body and anyone can develop cancer, although risk typically increases with age because most cancers tend to require many years to develop. ?Typically, human cells tend to grow and divide and ultimately form new cells as the body needs them. When an organisms cells grow old or get damaged, the cells die, and new ones replace them. However when cancer

This book is directed to the many professionals in government, academia, public health and health care who need up to date information on the potential for reducing the impact of cancer, including physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, and research scientists. The main aim of the book is to provide a realistic appraisal of the evidence for both cancer prevention and cancer screening. In addition, the book provides an accounting of the extent programs based on available knowledge have impacted populations. Overview of the evidence base for cancer prevention and screening, as demonstrated in Epidemiologic Studies in Cancer Prevention and Screening, is critically important given current debates within the scientific community. Yet the knowledge available to prevent many cancers is incomplete, and even if we know the main causal factors for a cancer, we often lack the understanding to put this knowledge into

Another advantage of screening is the fact that one test, the FPG, can easily diagnose type 2 diabetes. The test may need to be repeated a few times for accuracy but there is no need to use other types of expensive tests. The last advantage is being able to educate the individual about the risk factors and signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes as well as ways to prevent the disease. With advantages there are also disadvantages such as having to redo a test because of inaccuracy. Sometimes with the FPG, providers want to do it a few times because one high reading is not enough to diagnose diabetes. Another disadvantage is that technology is not perfect and there will be false positives given. These false positives will give the individual unnecessary anxiety as they will be told to undergo more testing whereas individuals who actually do have the disease may not test positive and they will miss out on early treatment (Kudzma & Harrington, 2014). The last disadvantage is false positive readings will increase the cost of health care because of all the extra unnecessary testing or

False positives can lead to unnecessary treatments and time spent. They can sue for money spent and misdiagnoses Whether or not they win is another matter but

Cancer. One of those words that repeatedly echoes in your head, drowning your thoughts, consuming your body… wondering, why you? How didn’t I find out sooner? Due to the many health benefits of mammography, women starting at the age of 40 should be required to have yearly mammograms. The discussion of mammography continues to rise in controversy, especially regarding why women should start receiving mammograms at the age of 40. Two conflicts that continue to threaten women against mammograms are the amount of radiation exposure and the evidence that mammograms can cause false positive results. Although there are negatives, mammography is peculiarly important in the solidity that they can detect cancer two years in advance and is able to pick up very small lesions.

The first reason being the level accuracy of PSA testing is questionable. The test determines a positive for the cancer based on the levels of prostate-specific antigens in the blood of the patient, which can be abnormally high for multiple other reasons not related to prostate cancer. The major evidence supporting said claim is that individuals with more than 4.0 ng per mL (the threshold to test positive) can have false positive rates of 70% (Mulhem 2). The second reason would be the implications of testing positive for prostate cancer, including but not limited to unnecessary treatment of the disease. While the analysis does not back up unnecessary treatment with any statistical evidence, it does go to explain further tests and procedures to confirm and understand the nature of the patient’s condition. This bleeds over to the negative physical and psychological side-effects of regular prostate cancer screening cited by the analysis. Mulhem explains that after testing positive for prostate cancer, more tests are performed to determine the accuracy of the screening and if so, reveal the specificities of the cancer. The most common of these tests being the prostate biopsy, a procedure that causes a significant portion of participants to develop moderate to severe problems requiring a follow-up with their doctor (Mulhem

If 2000 women are screened regularly for 10 years, one will benefit from the screening, as she will avoid dying from breast cancer (Screening for breast cancer with mammography). The article also says, women get a false alarms due to some screenings.

A colonoscopy catches cancer in the very early stages. If your doctor sees a polyp or growth during the procedure,

Most illnesses, when discovered early, can be cured easily than those that are in the later stages already. This is because the area and level of its development is still limited to a certain body part so the treatment is much simpler and easier to administer. If you want to know if ever you have potential cancerous cells in your body, it is best for you to go through cancer screening Houston.

Despite the difficulty, researchers have reported the benefits of screening. The most recognized benefit of health screening according to Durojaiye, (2009) is it’s effectiveness in reducing morbidity and mortality from disease by detecting it before symptoms occur. A report in 2006, by the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Screening, shows that screening saves 1,400 lives a year in England. In Australia, The age-standardized breast cancer mortality rate in women of all ages declined significantly from 28 per 100,000 women in 1996 to 24 per 100,000 in 2005. Mortality from breast cancer among women aged 50-69 was reported to have declined from 62 deaths per 100,000 in 1996 to 52 deaths per 100,000 in 2005 (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008) . Evidence also suggests that a reduction in death rates of around 95% is possible in the long-term with cervical cancer screening. The screening of pregnant women to identify and intervene early with risks to their health and that of their babies are associated with improved health status among high-risk populations (Durojaiye, 2009). The idea of screening therefore is to prevent, not to cure. Pope (1992), stats that screening is the second best option, but one which