Breast cancer can be a very serious thing, and in many cases, early detection is key for a successful recovery. Thus, women in America have been told that a yearly mammogram is the best thing to do. But like all things, there are pluses and minuses. However, unfortunately, like many things we are just told what to do without hearing the minuses. Mammograms fall into this category for a couple of reasons.
In order to have an honest discussion about mammograms we must start by acknowledging that the ultimate goal here is life. There are many steps along the way to achieve this, but what we are talking about is saving our life. However, this is where mammograms fall short. While doctors and others might point to detection statistics, if the goal is life preservation, then mammograms don’t seem to help much.
Mammograms Don’t Help, They Harm Women. Here is what you MUST know
Mammograms can cause cancer themselves. That’s right! You can walk into your mammogram appointment cancer free and walk out with cancer growing in your body. Why? Simply, it’s an x-ray and all x-ray’s use ionized radiation and this causes cancer by mutating and damaging normal cells. You are also being exposed to 30kVp radiation, which is 300% more carcinogenic than high energy radiation like that emitted from an atom bomb!
Mammograms are not as accurate as you may think
Every year approximately 1.6 million breast tissue biopsies are performed (most due to mammography test results). Of these 80% are negative. The New England Journal of Medicine points to the 1.3 million cases of misdiagnosed breast cancer every year. Leading millions of women to needlessly worry, start treatment and waste medical resources and money. When cancer is indeed detected, it is often called “stage zero”. Which means it is harmless if left untreated (should be monitored though) and often can even regress on its own.
Mammograms do not lower the risk of death
A large Canadian study indicated that out of 90,000 women (whom it followed for 25 years) compared the death rate due to breast cancer in those who had mammograms and those that didn’t. In the end, those who had mammograms did not have a better overall success rate. It was clear from the study that mammograms helped some women while hurting others…resulting is a statistical wash.
There are other Alternatives to Mammograms
Other alternatives do exist. One is thermography. This is a non-invasive test that can actually detect cancerous formations as small as 256 cells verse mammograms which can’t detect cancer formation until they are roughly 4 billion cells. Thermography simply detects small temperature changes in blood supply. Because cancer cells multiply so fast, they require more nutrients, i.e. blood. Where there is more heat, there is more blood and likely cancer formations growing.
Mammograms do not lower death risks
To compound matters, some research, including a recent large Canadian study which followed 90,000 women for 25 years, showed that mammograms did not lower the overall death rate from breast cancer. It is clear that while mammograms could have saved some women, it’s probably also harming others. Here, it is important to make the distinction between emotional and statistical analyses and keep the big picture in mind.
Better Alternatives to Mammograms
A good alternative to mammography is thermography. This is a simple, non-invasive way of accessing your risk for breast cancer. It can detect breast cancer many years earlier than physical exams and even mammograms. Progressive physicians in Europe and the US have been using thermography since 1962. The main difference between mammography and thermography is that thermography can see cancer formations at the size of 256 cells, while mammograms can’t detect cancer until there are roughly 4 billion cells clumped together.