Very disturbing...

If you haven't heard about the new recommendations from the US Preventative Services Task Force, please read this article...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120470428&sc=fb&cc=fp

Obviously, I don't agree with the recommendations. I don't understand how the "risks" of a self breast exams and mammograms outweigh the benefits of saving a life. False-positive results leading to a biopsy or increased anxiety are not good reasons to forgo self exams and mammograms for those younger than 50!

I don't have a family history of breast cancer and I'm under 40. Come on... Should I NOT do a self exam?!! This is positively absurd advise. It seems that more and more women UNDER 40 are being diagnosed. Early diagnoses is important to increasing survival rates. I wish I had had a mammogram before I felt the lump. Maybe, a mastectomy wouldn't be in my future. But, since I wasn't yet 40, I didn't have one before I detected the lump. These cells have been in my body for 5-8 years. If anything, I wish the recommendations were to start having mammograms earlier not later!

The task force says that this advise isn't for those with "signs or symptoms" of cancer. But, how would one know they had a sign if they didn't do a self breast exam?

I sincerely hope that the task force reverses this recommendation! It is a BAD message to send to women, doctors and health insurance agencies. We shouldn't go BACKWARDS in this fight that will affect 1 in every 8 women.


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New Recommendations From The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Until now, the independent voluntary task force funded by the Department of Health and Human Services recommended mammography every one to two years for women aged 40 or older. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now advises against routine screening mammography in women between the ages of 40 and 49, saying the benefits are small, and the screenings could do harm.

* Note these recommendations are intended for those who do not have signs or symptoms, or family history of breast cancer.

More On The Recommendations:

— Women aged 50 to 74 should have mammography every two years. The benefit of mammography every two years is nearly the same as that of doing it every year, and less-frequent screenings are about 50 percent less likely to do harm.

— No more breast self-exams. The recent analysis found no evidence that self- or clinical examination reduces breast cancer death rates.

— More evidence is needed on whether mammography is beneficial after age 74.

— Not enough information to know whether newer types of mammography or magnetic resonance imaging are any better than regular film mammography results.

The Research

— Since the last recommendation in 2002, the task force has evaluated new studies on the three types of breast cancer screening, as well as commissioning research with computer-simulation models. That research compared the expected health outcomes of mammography screening at different ages and frequencies (every year or every two years).

— For women aged 50 and older, having a mammogram is associated with lower odds of dying of breast cancer.

— However, the analysis found that for women aged 40 to 49, the benefits were small, and not necessarily worth the risk. Mammogram screenings could have potentially harmful effects, including false-positive results that could lead to unnecessary procedures. Additionally, some results can lead to a diagnosis and treatment of cancer that never would have surfaced on its own within a woman's natural lifetime.