Unfortunately, since there is no universal cure for cancer yet, its numbers are constantly rising and one of the most common cancers in women, i.e. breast cancer, remains a cause for concern.
As a result, on a yearly basis, millions of women throughout the world undergo a mammography- a medical procedure during which their breasts are being screened with the goal to detect potential cancerous lumps.
Even though doctors are recommending it as a method for early detection of breast cancer and consequently, better chances for successful outcome, some experts believe that this medical procedure may be doing more harm than good.
Mammography: Causing more Harm than Good?
As explained on Healthy Holistic Living, mammography is a medical procedure during which the breasts of women are pressed between 2 metal platforms and it has long been part of conventional medicine as a breast cancer detection method.
But, it appears that it is not as helpful as a lot of women trust it to be. Several studies have shown that this procedure may have a negative impact on the health of women and that it is not worth the risk.
Despite the claim that a mammogram is the only way to diagnose breast cancer in its early stages when it is the easiest to treat, 8 reviews of scientific trials showed that a lot of the women between the ages of 39 and 74 who underwent mammography were actually misdiagnosed and as a result, they were advised to undergo chemotherapy without actually being sick which contributed to the creation of actual health problems.
Recent Study on Mammography
According to a Swiss study with Canadian origin, mammography does not lower the rate of mortalities better than an average self-exam of the breasts. So, one could claim that women are just wasting additional funds to get a mammography when they can feel for potential lumps at the comfort of their own home.
Sarah Mybill, a doctor, believes that the last thing a person with a tumor would like to do is to crush it between two strong surfaces because this may spread it. She further explains that if we assume that mammography lowers the mortality by 15 percent and that overdiagnosis and overtreatment are at 30 percent, in every two thousand women who undergo screening throughout a period of ten years, only one will not die from breast cancer while ten cancer-free women who would not have been diagnosed if they did not undergo mammography will be unnecessarily treated with chemo and radiation.
However, the evidence of overdiagnosis does not indicate that mammography is worthless taking into consideration that it lowers death from breast cancer according to available data, as emphasized on Healthy Holistic Living.
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