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I Hate Mammograms, BUT....

You probably heard the news already today that a Government panel has changed the recommendation for women to get regular mammograms at age 40, now not until age 50. The panel also stated that monthly breast self-examinations are useless.

I wonder if the women who discovered cancer early via these methods in their 40s would agree with this?

Also, does that mean health insurance will no longer pay for the preventive screenings?

How many women will die?

Is this healthcare rationing?

Is this Obama?

Is this New America?

What do you think?

4 comments:

Brenda said...

i read a fascinating article in readers digest about all the unneccesary medical procedures we have. early detection is not always good. many cancers that go undetected are eliminated from the body naturally. the so called miracles of disappearing tumors in people are in fact the human body eliminating them with the immune system. so there are two sides of this subject. for me... i am okay with it. i abhor the doctors office and only go if i am near death. i have been "bad" according to the old guidelines and spot on with the new. i had two mammograms in my early 40's with good results and then skipped some years with only manual exams. there are so many false positive results that you really have to wonder if it is really a good thing.

Jilly said...

the health care people already stated that they're not changing a thing any time soon. this is probably because people do need mammograms. moreover, i trust self exams because if you DO THEM EVERY MONTH, you'll notice a change. my dr told me i have lumpy breasts and this could be nothing, or it could cause issues later on. if i check every month, then i'll otice if something is off. makes sense to me. i wouldn't use self-check as the ONLY way to see if one has cancer, but it couldn't hurt. the government said that mammo's and self-check led to women getting false diagnosis etc. personally, i'd rather be told i may have cancer and then get a biopsy than be told that i'm crazy and not to worry and go home and slowly rot from cancer. i'm silly like that. then again, i heard people tell me for months my kid was fine, when she was in fact not fine. you really need to gather facts and then do what you can to make the best decision for yourself. while i'm glad people at the government care about women's health, i personally disagree with this assessment and side with caution and believe in the guidelines supported by cancer groups and experts.

Jilly

Anonymous said...

I'm more concerned with the self-exams are useless aspect than the holding off on mammograms until 50. But, the concern about health insurance companies refusing to pay is completely founded. In 2007, I FELT that there was something wrong with one of my breasts. The doctor ordered a mammogram which revealed a worrisome abnormality. A biopsy was ordered. I was 35. My insurance company refused to pay for the biopsy based on that I was too young for a mammogram. If I hadn't had the mammogram the abnormality wouldn't have been detected, and I wouldn't have had the biopsy. The completey ignored that 1) women with my kind of family history of early onset breast cancer are recommended to start getting mammograms at 30. 2) the mammogram was diagnostic, not preventative. We already knew there was something wrong.

Mat said...

It's the government's way of culling the herds.

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