Friday, September 28, 2018

Breast Cancer Food for Thought

Shared with me by a friend in health care:

Surgeons Admit That Mammography Is Outdated And Harmful To Women

A study completed in Switzerland originating out of Canada (the 2014 Canadian National Breast Screening Study) concluded that mammography screenings do not reduce mortality rates at any better rate than your average physical breast examination (1). This means that women are paying much more to get a fancy mammography when they could simply feel for lumps and bumps and get the same–if not better results.
Consequently, the procedure is utterly unnecessary and actually harmful. As Dr. Sarah Mybill said, “I believe that if you did have a tumor, the last thing you would want to do is crush that tumor between two plates because that would spread it” (1).
The list of research goes on and on. There have been countless studies done expressing the severe uselessness of mammography (4). The math calculates it this way: “If we assume that screening reduces breast cancer mortality by 15% and that overdiagnosis and overtreatment is at 30%, it means that for every 2000 women invited for a screening throughout 10 years, one will avoid dying of breast cancer and 10 perfectly healthy, cancer-free women who would not have been diagnosed if there had not been screening, will be treated unnecessarily” (1).

My friend recommends instead of mammogram: