Finally! The American Cancer Society (ACS) has admitted that its reckless advice to women for the past several decades to have an annual mammogram is not actually in the best interests of health. For an organization that gets millions upon millions of dollars in donations every year, yet has NEVER had a single cancer treatment breakthrough, this is an astonishing admission. I blogged earlier this year about the extreme dangers of mammograms and how the cumulative effects of radiation from this screening test actually CAUSE an estimated 20% of breast cancers!
A single mammogram exposes a woman’s chest to 1 RAD of radiation; that’s the equivalent of about 1000 chest xrays! This admission by the ACSÂ does not go so far as to expose mammograms for what they truly are, a moneymaker for gynecologists and labs, which is a shame. I would have gained a lot of respect for the ACS if it had finally admitted not only that mammograms were of minimal value in extending longevity but also the dangers they posed to the health of women who are cancer free at the time of the screening.
The truth is, a simple breast ultrasound is far safer, more effective, and cheaper! Even a breast thermogram is much more desirable than a dangerous mammogram.
I have a question. This year I’m supposed to get my first mammogram. Considering my family history, I never even considered not having one. But then I came upon a discussion which led to seeing this blog post. When I read about the 1 mammogram = 1000 chest x-rays, that made me think perhaps I’d skip the test. But I just found another website (one from my province’s health system) that says 1 mammogram is equal to six months of the background radiation we’d get just from going through life, and that sounds a lot less than 1000 chest x-rays. So which is it? Where can I go to get solid information?
I’m already feeling frustrated with the quality of medical care available to me here in Canada, and am thankful to have the right to go to my home country (USA) where I could get better care (provided I could afford it). I’ve already experienced what it’s like when a surgery is needed but the wait is crazy long and the competence of doctors is lacking. So I want to make an informed choice here, but am finding it difficult to know what information to trust.
I have not have a mammogram for two years, instead i went for a thermography and al thought the result presented some concerns my regular gynecologist completely disregarded the test and kept on pushing for a mammogram. i refused and asked him for a prescription for a sonogram or MRI I needed to follow up the results of the Thermography. With lots of hesitations I finally got the prescription for a sonogram but unfortunately the radiology center I always go to, or many I checked wont do any test unless I have the mammography. This is very frustrating and upseting to feel trapped in the system…I am doing research on what to do next. If you have any suggestions I WELCOME them !!!
Wow… that is sad! How could post-graduates not pick up on this? What happened to preliminary testing? What happened to common sense? How can we trust the word of physicians after discovering something like this? If I were a doctor who had performed mammograms I would hang my head in shame.
When my doc asked when I'd had my last mammogram, told her have never had one. She was really surprised and asked why. Handed her a print-out of info, which she readily received. And has never bugged me about it!
I'll be 56 in January and my body has only recently started thinking about down-shifting into menopause. Healing/prevention via food rocks! Maca powder (a food) has been particularly helpful at this time.
Blessings!
I was just trying to explain this to my mom who has had a lump in her breast for 20 years. All that "watching it" is probably causing more harm.
Thank you for posting this and I love your blog!
Sarah, I also heard this news this weekend and you could hear me yelling at the TV! You express my thoughts well! My question is, since they recommend it now for women 50-70 bc the risk goes up during those years…..how many of those women who have been found to have breast cancer in ages 50-70 have taken Hormone Replacement? And for those under 50 how many have used the pill or other estrogen/progesterone drugs? How unnatural for women to not ovulate! Or to do anything to stop her periods.
I'm 51 and never plan to have a mammogram. I use herbs and food for medicine. I've had a very smooth transition into menopause (not many women my age are having menopause….they are all younger! which isn't natural). Again, I use herbs and food. It works!
Here's the blog link about thermograms:
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/safe-alternative-to-mammograms
You could try thermograms .. I discuss this safe, non radiation based screen in a blog about the dangers of mammograms a few months back.
So, just out of curiosity, how would your propose screening for breast cancer?