Mammogram Debates Leave Women Confused December 6
The United States Preventive Services Task Force said that it is more advisable for mammograms to be performed at a later age and to be done less frequently. The American Cancer Society thinks we should stick to the present practice of having it routinely done once a woman reaches the age of 40, and that it should be done annually. In the middle of it all is the ordinary American woman, who is now hearing conflicting recommendations from two rather respectable institutions.
We agree with the comment of Dr. Brett Parkinson, a fellowship-trained breast radiologist and medical director of the Breast Care Center at Intermountain Medical Center, as articulated in a feature on the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Parkinson was quoted as having said that the debates and conflicting recommendations “suggests to women that we in the medical field may not know what we’re doing.” Dr. Parkinson does not agree with the recommendations of the USPSTF.
So what, indeed, should a woman do now? The USPSTF did not take back its earlier recommendation but testified during a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee to clarify its position regarding “the mammogram question” and reportedly called its earlier communication “poor”.
While they still recommend that routine mammograms should start at 50 and be performed every other year, they stressed that this was not a “blanket recommendation” for all women. The decision to undergo a mammogram or not should be an individual one, the USPSTF said.
And this is what women should now resolve to do, given the varying views and opinions of those who are in the medical profession. The good thing about all this is that women have been provided with the information used by both sides of the debate to arrive at their recommendations, and this information may now also be used by women in deciding when to have their mammograms, and how often they intend to have it.
Tags: mammogram every year, mammogram frequency, mammogram requirement, risks of mammogram