Mammogram - The Miracle That Never Was
Dear Reader,
Breast cancer strikes some 230,000 American women - and kills some 40,000 - every year. For decades, the mammogram has been the first line of defense. With this amazing diagnostic tool, we were told, death rates from breast cancer would shrink dramatically.
The only problem? It hasn’t happened.
In fact, a 2014 review of a large Canadian study found the opposite. The death rate among women getting regularly mammograms was actually a bit higher than among women who didn’t.
Do mammograms work? And if they don’t, what should you do about it?
Mammograms: The Myth vs. the Facts
The promise of regular screening with mammograms was large. Regular screening, on a widespread basis, should cut breast cancer deaths by 20% - 25%. Early detection would enable more effective treatment. And that would save lives.
But when French and British researchers reviewed study after study, the numbers just didn’t add up. The predicted drop in death rates simply never materialized. Not in Europe... not in Australia... not in the U.S.
At the same time, screening programs for cervical and colo-rectal cancers weresaving lives. What went wrong?
The authors found one big difference between the early mammogram studies and those used to predict the success of screening programs for other cancers. The mammogram researchers had crunched their numbers in a non-standard way.
Using more accepted statistical analysis would have dropped the predicted cut in breast cancer deaths by less than 10%
These are hardly the first studies to question mammograms’ effectiveness. A 2009 review by the Cochrane organization found them fairly ineffective.
They calculated that for every 2,000 women screened over 10 years, 1 would be helped. While 10 women would be subjected to unnecessary cancer treatments. And another 200 would suffer serious distress from false positive findings.
Now, you may say, “Better safe than sorry” But all this wheel spinning has a tremendous cost. According to Boston-area researchers, mammogram errors in the U.S. alone cost $4 billion a year.
In other words, mammograms aren’t living up to the myth. So what are you supposed to do?
How Can You Avoid Breast Cancer?
Mammograms are still the tool of choice for women at high risk of breast cancer. That’s why cutting your risk is your best strategy. Luckily, that’s not hard.
Your risk of breast cancer is closely tied to several lifestyle choices. These 3 can help you quickly bring your risk down...
- Keep your weight down. Fat cells are pro-estrogenic. The more you carry, the higher your risk of breast cancer. By the same token, dropping extra pounds cuts your risk.
- Exercise regularly. Regular exercise tends to lengthen your menstrual cycle. Exercising regularly over the course of years may only draw each cycle out by a day or two. But over a lifetime, it lowers your exposure to estrogen significantly.
- Cut out the sugar. Studies show eating processed sugars promotes the development of denser breast tissue, a risk factor for breast cancer. While you certainly don’t have to stop eating apples, cutting out cookies and other man-made sweets will cut your risk.
Jason Kennedy
Miller, A.B., et al, “Twenty five year follow-up for breast cancer incidence and mortality of the Canadian National Breast Screening Study: randomised screening trial,” BMJ. 2014; 348: g366.
“Mammography benefits overestimated,” Kings College London. Aug 7, 2015.
Gotzsche, P.C. and Nielsen, M., “Screening for breast cancer with mammography,” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. Oct 7, 2009 ;(4): CD001877.
ONg, M.S. and Mandl, K.D., “National expenditure for false-positive mammograms and breast cancer
overdiagnoses estimated at $4 billion a year,” Health Aff (Millwood). Apr 2015; 34(4): 576-583.
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