Deseret News | Mammogram advice is a major reversal

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Mammogram advice is a major reversal

Anonymous | 4:58 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

What a bunch of BS. I can see where the Obama health care plan is headed. It's simple people, don't get sick.

LOL | 4:58 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

next they'll tell us that exercise does not good, it doesn't matter what you eat and smoking doesn't cause cancer.

Whatever | 5:08 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

This is just another way to push through socialized health care and begin rationing money alloted for health care. My mother died of breast cancer, and I luckily survived due to vigilantly doing self examinations. If I didn't begin self screening until my 50's I would have been dead when I found out at 28 that I had breast cancer.

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Anon | 5:09 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

I have a friend (and mother of 2 young children) who found a malignant lump at age 34. Had she not done her self-exam, who knows when she would have found out. I don't like the new guidelines. If I were to take my chances, it would be with the Cancer Society and not government scientists.

awsomeron | 5:28 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

The American Cancer Institute people are right and the Obama Goverment Wrong.

Get at least a Baseline Test done at 40. 35 if there is a history of Cancer in the Family.

Males over 65, Obese Males, and Males with a history of cancer in the family need to be checked also.

1 Case in 100 of Cancer is in a Man, often discovered to late.Over 450 males died last year of Breast Cancer.

Don't stress this . . . | 5:51 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

. . . because next week there will be another study proclaiming the very opposite of everything here. Just the way it works.

My sister, in her 40s, discovered her breast cancer by self-exam. Bought herself another thirteen years of life.

We don't need to do what the government says, just what we know and feel is correct.

Ooh, is that a treasonous idea? Thinking for ourselves?!

xscribe | 6:51 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

Some of you seem to think this came about under President Obama. Do you really think this study only started under his presidency? A good study would be a decade, at least, in the making. So I guess Presidents Clinton and Bush knew about Obamacare and were for socialized medicine all along.

Really... | 8:22 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

This has nothing to do with socialized medicine (believe me, I'm not a fan of that!) and everything to do with evidence-based medicine.

A study published in 2002 involving 266,000 women showed that cancer was not detected more frequently or at an earlier stage when women performed self-breast exams. However, self-breast exams lead to more biopsies of benign lesions. And mammograms aren't particularly sensitive or specific for cancer, espeically when women are in their 40s and have denser breast tissue.

I'm glad the task force is making these recommendations. The American Cancer Society always wants to over screen everyone, even when there is no proven benefit and there is evidence it leads to harm.

It's about time | 10:39 p.m. Nov. 16, 2009

Mammograms do more harm than good. It's about time.

MiP | 12:10 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

re: It's about time.

As a radiologist, I must ask if you have any proof of that statement? Huh? No. You don't. The fact is early detection saves lives. Mammography plays a huge role in early detection.

Granted, minimal radiation dose is recieved during mammography(which is what I assume you implied by mammography doing harm). However, that dose is nearly negligible when you compare it to normal background radiation (approx. 3 to 3.5 mSV yearly) particularly in high altitude states like Utah. Mammography detecting early cancer >>>>> over mammography actually causing the cancer.

Unless you're just upset about the compression applied. Then you'd just be sore....

Me | 4:48 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

Doctors and other have known for a long time that prolonged exposure to this kind of raidation can cause cancer ! $$$$$$$$$ that is what it is all about. Just too much evidence against Mammography now.

Medical overkill. | 4:51 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

The medical profession and doctors in for profit health care facilities have proven to me how inept they are and should not be licensed doctors. They always over prescribe and over test because they are too specialized and no one can figure out if you have a cold or cancer. We are all born with cancer cells and the only question is what triggers them to grow.

Myself, I believe people should stay away from doctors and medical treatment unless you are sick or injured. Preventative health care can only be done with your lifestyle, safe unprocessed food, all the basic food groups and physical stress (exercise). Natural food has all the chemicals and medicine you need in it.

The high level of obesity in america is because of all the unnatural chemicals and hormones added in meat and food before it leaves the farms. Growth speed and poundage is what food brokers are after and we are showing the results on the scales and in general health.

I tend to believe this report and the medical profession will fight it, they are making a lot of money on these tests showing minimal results.

very sad | 7:37 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

As a medical professional, I've seen mammograms save lives-- young lives. I know that if women wait till after 50 to get screened, more will die needlessly young.

They failed to take into account the life years saved in their assessment.

It is also bogus they are telling women not to check themselves monthly. I've seen many women find lumps that turn out to be cancer.

People in the forum saying its about $$$ get a life! I hope you are not one of the unfortunate ones who are hurt by this horrible advice!

Focus people... | 8:05 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

For all of those blaming this on Obama - this task force has been around for a great many years and is an independent task force.

I know it is comforting to blame all the evils in the world on Obama, but you are really giving the man way too much credit.

Risk factors | 8:12 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

If you read the recommendations closely, you will see that individuals with risk factors or a family history are not affected by the new recommendations - they are still under the old recommendations.

I don't agree with the new recommendations - mostly because they are based on a cost/benefit analysis and I think the extra .8 lives saved by earlier mammograms are worth the cost.

If we are going to disagree, it is important that we actually disagree with the recommendations - not that we just claim to disagree when the part we are claiming to disagree with is not part of the recommendations anyway.

We have much more credibility if we address the real issues.

@ It's about time | 8:13 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

"Mammograms do more harm than good. It's about time."

Care to provide some proof to back that up?

xscribe | 8:17 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

Waiting until 50 might also be the difference between a less-invasive lumpectomy, as opposed to a mastectomy. I'm not sure if those stats are in the study or not, but if I were a woman, I'd be checking into it.

Anonymous | 9:07 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

I am tired of the constant changess in opinion about this. First it's absolutely necessary, then the radiation is dangerous.

bc survivor | 9:32 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

I am presently 55 years old. 3 years ago I had my regular annual mammogram. A golf ball size tumor was in my right breast. This tumor was very aggressive and did not even show up on the previous year's mammogram. I subsequently had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. If I would have had a mammogram every other year, it would have been catastrophic for me. I always did my regular breast exams, but never notice the tumor. As far as I am concerned, annual mammograms are a must.

Anonymous | 9:39 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

The government says....

How about what the DOCTOR says!

Folks this is what will be lost if/when the health care bill is passed. No it is not being paranoid it is what happens when you live under government run health care. When you have lived under it you never want to go back. When you have watched people die because they are not valued by the government panel it causes changes. This will be just the first of many government reversals. This is how it all starts until in the end you American's will have lost everything.

CB | 10:00 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

Where does it say that it takes years for these studies to be done. The years are on the Cancer Society side not a federal commission. This is Obama's 'death panel' at work. Those I have known with breast cancer, dead and alive were in their 30's when discovered. And telling them not to examine their own breast, is telling someone to ignore chest pains. But even Obama says we should realize that we are all going to die, sometime. Take a pill he says. I suppose being a mother with children shouldn't deter you from accepting that premise.

@ Anonymous 9:07 | 10:14 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

"I am tired of the constant changess in opinion about this. First it's absolutely necessary, then the radiation is dangerous."

Yep - once we know something, we should stick with it! No more of this constant studying and exploring! The knowledge we have now is good enough! It was good enough for our parents before us and it is good enough for our kids after us!

Madden | 10:15 a.m. Nov. 17, 2009

My understanding is that many illnesses that we detect very early (including breast cancer) are often benign. Detect something too early and a) you don't yet know if it is benign or not and b) you don't wait to find out if it will get worse or if your body will fix itself, you simply treat it.

With treatments so often being very invasive and having harmful, long-lasting side-effects, I hear more doctors coming out with a more moderate approach to early detection. At least that's the Readers Digest version of it.

Still, who do you believe with so many loud, diametrically opposed voices in the medical community?

Less cancers diagnosed | 1:02 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

equals more money in attorneys' pockets. More lawsuits coming.

Linus | 1:07 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

You will witness a constant reduction in government-recommended and/or government-approved medical procedures as we inch ever closer to ObamaCare. This is just the beginning of the "official devaluation" of health and life. Get used to it.

surely | 1:36 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

The breast cancer cabal has won the point of terrifying people into believing that progress has been made on the breast cancer longevity front. NOT SO. Dig into the actual research and you will find that Yes, breast cancer is being found earlier and people are living longer from discovery to death. However, the net gain in longevity is basically nil.

It is the ugly truth of at least this particular cancer that earlier discovery has simply created additional time for slash & burn treatment with a decline in quality of life than if the patient hadn't known about it til later in the cycle.

Mammograms are contributory to breast cancer risk with risk doubling with every one. No surprise to any woman with moderately large to larger amounts of tissue to be squashed.

Try thermography. Self-exam. Don't stick your head in the sand and ignore it, but realize those with BC are no better off today in terms of lifespan than they were in the 60s. Don't believe me, do the research.

DMH | 4:50 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

My mother is a breast cancer survivor and let me tell you how grateful our family is that she had her mammogram done when she did. She has been pretty faithful about having one done every year, but the year she was diagnosed she had waited a few months longer than usual. If she would have waited another whole year, which is what this study is saying that we should do, the tumor would have been much larger and she would have needed chemotherapy, radiation, and probably a mastectomy. Because her cancer was caught early, she had a lumpectomy and only needed a few radiation treatments. She took hormones for 5 years and is considered cured. There is no history of breast cancer in our family, so it was a suprise that she got it. I feel that these new guidelines are completely wrong and women need to be able to take care of their own health. Self-exams and mammograms are essential to catching breast cancer early.

better care is there | 5:59 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

There are more accurate, less risky screenings for breast cancer; they hurt less but cost more. Will authorities "educate" American women about them? I doubt it.

Yes, I agree, here we go. Cost cutting at the peril of women's lives. I am not surprised that women are the first to be put on the chopping block.

j weber | 6:11 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

after reading all of the comments you can tell which ones are made by people who have never been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am 57 and was diagnosed with stage IIa breast cancer. without having a mammogram every year it would have been found when treatment would have been more difficult. I had a negative mammogram one year and the next year cancer was found. I have no family history and no risk factors. The danger of digital mammography is so slight that compared to the alternative it is a life saver. "surely" should be thankful for the advances in breast cancer that have been made over the years and thi increase in survival rates for breast cancer patients. with new medications and treatments the survival rate will continue to grow. breast cancer prevention and early detection has been impressive because the women have been the force behind reseach and funding.. all women need to fight to reverse this proposal. let the decision be between a woman and her physician

hht | 6:25 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

another indication (US Government Study) that the "government" is trying to do away with us and lower the population. Do we look stupid, sound stupid? What?

Concerned | 9:48 p.m. Nov. 17, 2009

I think many of those commenting on this blog are missing something here. I don't believe this report has one thing to do with Obamacare. It's a report that should have come out much much earlier and has likely been suppressed for the financial gain of the medical industry. I am sure they will continue to fight against the credibility of this report. Many people in this country are harmed through overtreatment brought on by early screenings. My grandmother has breast cancer. I wish she had been more educated on ways to prevent the cancer (lifestyle) rather than simply reminded to get her mammogram every year. The idea of screenings is a false sense of security.

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