Re: Changing of mammogram guidelines
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I believe they revised the requirements for mammograms for several reasons. The mammograms are not very effective at find breast cancer. Works only 50% or less of the time and often give false positives with lead to treatments that might not have been needed. Also the risk of the excessive radiation exposure from the test would likely cause some cancer if you started getting them yearly too soon. One mammogram is equal to 1,000 chest xrays. Multiple that by yearly dosages and you could be causing more cancers then you are finding. I read one study that stated mammograms are not effective in reducing deaths from bc. The large study stated only 0.4 in 1,000 women were helped by having annual mammograms. Hard to believe but I think the new mammogram schedule is better. Since the medical community is all about making more money perhaps this will lead them to find a different test to detect breast cancer more efficiently and with less risk. One can only hope. take GOoD care Zoe
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