Hi,

Before you decide to have your first mammogram, you might want to do more research on this topic.

Most women overestimate their risk of getting breast cancer or dying from breast cancer.  Fear would seem to play a large role in driving the screening mammography industry, an industry that is known to present significant physical and psychological harms for screenees.  Many experts are complaining that women are being overtreated as a result of screening mammography, treated for conditions that might never be life-threatening and that can often resolve on their own.  Screening also results in high rates of breast biopsies where women are subjected to painful and invasive procedures.  An estimated 80 percent of these biopsies are needless and merely confirm normal, benign conditions.

There is ongoing debate in the medical community as to whether screening mammography in fact reduces breast cancer mortality for women at all. Some experts are even arguing that mammography-related practices and procedures are contributing to the development of breast cancer, especially for women who are already ina high-risk category. The combination of compression and radiation is thought to promote the growth dormant cancer cells.  Screening mammography is known to pose increased risks for pre-menopausal women.

In the US, the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), once an advocate for screening mammography, has recently revised its position. After reviewing the medical evidence to date, it issued an official statement in May 2007: "NBCC believes that there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening mammography in any age group of women. Women who have symptoms of breast cancer such as a lump, pain or nipple discharge should seek a diagnostic mammogram. The decision to undergo screening must be made on an individual level based on a woman's personal preferences, family history and risk factors. Mammography does not prevent or cure breast cancer, and has many limitations. Women are told that mammography screening saves lives, but the evidence of a mortality (death rate) reduction from screening is conflicting and continues to be questioned by some scientists, policy makers and members of the public. Ultimately, resources must be devoted to finding effective preventions and treatments for breast cancer and tools that detect breast cancer truly early" (quoted in The Secret History of the War on Cancer, by Dr. Devra Davis, Director of the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health).

Your breast cancer risk can be greatly reduced through lifestyle and environmental changes.  Please find out more before you expose yourself to the risks of screening mammography.

- Voice of experience