Comments on: At 45, Caught Between Mammograms

By: Paula Spencer

Paula Spencer — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:12:45 +0000

75-80% of all newly diagnosed breast cancers in the US are in women with no family history of breast cancer. The amount of radiation received with getting a mammogram is the same as being in a high altitude place such as Denver for a few months. Many breast cancers are detected in young women in their forties by mammogram. The more “fatty” your breasts are on mammogram, the easier it is to detect breast cancer. If your breasts are dense on mammogram, it may be wise to get yearly screening breast MRI (no radiation). Keep doing your self breast exams, and getting a clinical breast exam by your doctor once a year. This is how breast cancer is found – by these 3 things.

By: Steffie Woolhandler, M.D.

Steffie Woolhandler, M.D. — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:08:00 +0000

FYI – You described a friend who had a cancer gene . If she had one of the common cancer genes — BRCA1 or BRCA2, she almost certainly got bilateral subcutaneous mastectomies and oopherectomies, not a radical mastectomy and a hysterectomy.

By: Lark, New Hampshire

Lark, New Hampshire — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:43:49 +0000

Breast thermography is an FDA approved Adjunct diagnostic tool which can give a helpful and different perspective than a mammogram. It has a better record of accuracy, does not involve any physical contact with the breasts, has no radiation, and it can show changes in breast tissue long before a lump develops, so that alternative and preventive health measures may have a chance to work BEFORE you get to the stage of “something” appearing on a mammogram. It measures heat–so an increase in blood flow (which can signal a tumor in the making) in one area of the breast relative to other areas will show up. If “something” is inactive, it won’t show up on a thermogram. These are not very expensive, though insurance companies don’t cover it. (Similarly, many insurance companies refused for years to cover chiropractic treatments–which have kept me out of a wheelchair–until people “voted with their feet” in sufficient numbers to change many policies.) I recently had thermography done in Byfield MA; I wanted to be responsible but I really didn’t want more mammograms. I have also learned that the “very precise” (and VERY EXPENSIVE) digital imaging mammogram machines operate on a radiation wavelength that is particularly dangerous for sensitive breast tissue, making the effect of a mammogram potentially the radiation equivalent of several hundred chest X-rays.

By: Megan in Cambridge

Megan in Cambridge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:52:41 +0000

I would say that if someone were thinking of canceling a follow-up screening to rule out a problem, that she would at least discuss this with her physician, rather than deciding to not get re-screened based on an article describing a new recommendation that has not been formally adopted.

By: Susan L. in Newton

Susan L. in Newton — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:23:20 +0000

I’m disappointed that Ms. Zimmerman would describe a mammogram as “really annoying,” which may discourage women from getting this important test. I’ve had several, and found the experience to be a very quick and involve only mild discomfort for a few seconds while the machine takes each set of pictures. In the scheme of life, enduring a few minutes of discomfort to avoid such a horrific and potentially deadly disease is well worth it.

By: John Carberry

John Carberry — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:56:32 +0000

Sweden is probably the worst country to follow- homogeneous, different living and eating issues. Watchful waiting is the mantra for most cancers in Sweden-see prostate cancer studies. Because we cannot determine aggressive nature of any cancer caution should be the watchword. Test early and often- it saved my life with prostate cancer and want it for my wife and daughter with breast cancer.

By: linda dolmatch

linda dolmatch — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:44:44 +0000

Thought commentary was unhelpful and possibly misleading. While uncomfortable, breast cancer undetected is more uncomfortable. Each woman needs to make sense of guidelines, but not mentioning the benefits of early detection — especially from a reporter — made me suspicious of her views. I’ll note her commentaries very cautiously in the future.