The beginning of the end for unreliable mammograms? Maybe. I saw this report in WDDTY the other day. Just look at what the board of one company who were considering using it says..:
The Swiss could be the first to drop it after independent research revealed that the risks outweighed any benefits—and that earlier research, which had provided the evidence to launch national screening programmes in most Western nations, had been falsified. Researchers from the Swiss Medical Board, an independent health research group, first reported on mammography’s shortcomings last February, and one Swiss canton, Uri, is now reconsidering a move to introduce it for routine screening. Others may follow, and two of the board’s researchers have spoken out this week because they say it is ethical to do so.
“It is easy to promote mammography screening if the majority of women believe that it prevents or reduces the risk of getting breast cancer and saves many lives through early detection of aggressive tumours. We would be in favour of mammography screening if these beliefs were valid. Unfortunately, they are not, and we believe that women need to be told so. From an ethical perspective, a public health programme that does not clearly produce more benefits than harms is hard to justify..”
You can see more on the study here.
I also saw a good write-up on the subject from Dr Mercola, which was an interesting read:
Swiss Medical Board: No More Mammography Screening Programs.
I have also written about the subject of mammograms and breast cancer screening more here, here and here.
Related articles
Not before time…. Always been deeply dubious about mammography and have personally refused it for years.
Coming up to that age and I plan to refuse too, Michelle!