American College of Physicians warns women in their 40s about dangers of mammograms

Well.. it's nice to see the conventional medical community FINALLY coming out and saying what most ALTERNATIVE doctors have been saying all along about mammograms. I try to correct EVERYONE I talk to about the dangers of annual mammograms - so many have been brainwashed for years that this is what women should do. I have never felt an annual dose of radiation was a good thing but I thought EVEN LESS of it once I found out they only detect calcifications and in MY case I did not have calcifications so it gave ZERO info about my particular breast lump, which a later MRI indicated was something to worry about. Now that I have been "cleared" and they are saying it is scar tissue, one has to wonder whether I ever had anything to worry about.. but I guess I'll never know and that is fine.

The statistics have been that women who get an annual mammogram INCREASE their cancer risk by 2% each year so after 10 years an obedient woman who got her annual mammograms has increased her risk for getting cancer by 20%. No thanks!

Many alternatives are now available - from the AMAS blood test to Thermography and other forms of light testing, a Breast MRI (which all insurance SHOULD allow but don't for annual purposes) etc.

The article:
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The American College of Physicians has recommended women in their 40s consult with their doctors before undergoing routine annual mammography screening. An expert panel from the American College of Physicians (ACP), which represents 120,000 internists, made this recommendation in the April 3rd issue of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

After reviewing 117 studies conducted between 1966 and 2005, the panel found the data on mammography screening for women in their 40s are so unclear that the effectiveness of reducing breast cancer death could be either 15 percent or "...nearly zero."

The panel pointed out that benefits must be weighed against the harmful effects of mammograms, including exposure to radiation and unnecessary biopsies, surgery, and chemotherapy.

Dr. Amir Qaseem, lead author of the ACP guidelines, stated "It is important to tailor the decision of screening mammography by discussing the benefits and risks with a woman, addressing her concerns, and making it a joint decision between her and her physician." The ACP noted cancer risk varies from woman to woman, and decisions about annual mammography screenings are best made on a case-by-case basis.

The ACP pointed out for women who have a known high risk of breast cancer (family history or early menarche, for example) annual screenings are appropriate.

The group is not opposed to mammography, but rather questions the efficacy of annual mammography exams commencing at age 40. "We agree that mammography can save lives," said Douglas K. Owens of Stanford University, who chaired the committee that wrote the guidelines, "But there are also potential harms. We don't think the evidence supports a blanket recommendation."

The dangers of mammography are recognized in the medical field. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, "Screening mammography poses significant and cumulative risks of breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. The routine practice of taking four films of each breast annually results in approximately 1 rad (radiation absorbed dose) exposure, about 1,000 times greater than that from a chest x-ray. The pre-menopausal breast is highly sensitive to radiation, each 1 rad exposure increasing breast cancer risk by about 1 percent, with a cumulative 10 percent increased risk for each breast over a decade's screening. These risks are even greater for younger women subject to 'baseline screening.'"

The coalition reports women who carry the A-T gene are especially prone to risk from early mammography screening: "Radiation risks are some four-fold greater for the 1 to 2 percent of women who are silent carriers of the A-T (ataxia-telangiectasia) gene; by some estimates this accounts for up to 20 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed annually."

"Mammography is used primarily as a tool to recruit new patients into conventional cancer treatments, regardless of whether they would actually benefit from such treatments," said Mike Adams, author of Natural Health Solutions and the Conspiracy to Keep You From Knowing About Them. "The breast cancer industry harms ten women for every one it helps. It is an industry of greed, profits, and scare tactics," Adams added.

At the heart of the current blanket recommendations to begin annual mammography exams at age 40 is the American Cancer Society (ACS). Robert A. Smith, director of cancer screening at the ACS, responded to the new recommendations stating, "The danger here is that some women will elect not to get screened. Mammography is the single most effective way of finding breast cancer early, and when we find breast cancer early, women have the greatest chance of successful treatment." Just last month the ACS advised women who are at a perceived "high risk" of breast cancer to also undergo annual MRIs.

Resources: http://www.preventcancer.com/patients/mammography/dangers.htm

Another reason not to get sentinel node lymph biopsy

An alternative to the sentinel node lymph biopsy is to get a PEM (Pet Scan Mammogram) and I am so thankful that I did NOT get the lymph biopsy that they assured me was very low risk for edema. Hmmmph

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Imagine beating breast cancer only to find out you're health problems may have just begun.That's exactly what many women are dealing with, but there is good news.A new study has found a majority of those survivors face a new battle with lymph edema, which they'll fight it the rest of their lives.

When Lori Elgin finally beat breast cancer, she dreamed of carefree times with her family.She said she never thought dealing with the lymph edema that followed would be an even more challenging experience than the cancer."There's no cure for the lymph edema," said Elgin. "I mean, you're stuck with it. You just have to learn to manage it as well as possible."For Elgin, that means wearing a compression sleeve and glove on her right arm to help manage the constant and painful swelling,

The problem is often caused during surgery or radiation. Wherever lymph nodes are removed, lymphatic fluid can't drain. It accumulates and causes swelling. A new three-year study published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention revealed how big the lymph edema problem really is."Over half of the women had experienced swelling sometime during the three years," said author Dr. Electra Paskett.

That's nearly seven times as many women as shown in some previous studies.Paskett, a breast cancer survivor, said she knows firsthand how debilitating the swelling can be."We're not supposed to lift anything very heavy," said Paskett. "Should avoid any repetitive action, repetitive motion like cleaning your house, vacuuming, things like that. So a lot of these things really affect a woman's life."Even more troubling is the psychological impact. There is no cure for lymph edema, only sleeves and medicines for pain and swelling.Besides compression sleeves and medications, many women get regular arm and hand massages to help ease their swelling. But Paskett said something more needs to be done.With so many women surviving breast cancer, she'd like to see more insurance companies pay for such therapy. And she hopes more scientists will focus on developing cures for the condition to preserve a better quality of life for cancer survivors.
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In my opinion - the risk of edema is not an acceptable risk. I don't even care if cancer IS found in the lymph nodes. Treat it with boosting your immune system, changing your diet by eliminating chemicals and processed sweets and foods and as a LAST resort using radiation or chemo after surgery when possible.

I am living proof that you don't have to burn, cut or poison to treat breast cancer. You just have to heed your body's call to change up a lot of what you are doing in your daily life and do it for good....