SO Many women are still confused about what is right for them when it comes to deciding when they should start getting mammograms. Even women in their thirties sometimes are being encouraged to start getting yearly mammographies by their doctors because they have indicated they have a family history of the disease.
But there are other studies that say that mammograms at such an early age, when the breast tissue is still so very dense, and is very hard to get a good reading from, don’t really do any good. This is because readings are really hard to decipher (they are sometimes as it is, with older women) because the tissue is hard to read.
Some studies, and natural health websites which I am a fan of, even say that yearly mammograms are dangerous and actually add to the risk of developing breast cancer because of the exposure of concentrated radiation to the breast tissue.
While I’m not sure that I would NEVER get a mammogram because of this fear, I must say, that stuck in my head as a possible reason for not getting them, or at least not getting them as often when my time comes, especially since breast cancer does run in my mother’s side of the family.
To make matters worse, there are women who’ve been burned by false positives, only to have to go in for an incredibly invasive biopsy, only to find that really it was harmless calcium deposits or some other harmless mass which did not indicate cancer. If you have a really high deductible, or no coverage at all, this type of expense can be pretty devastating!
If I may be so bold, I feel like breast cancer is such a rampant fear of women, and rightly so since it is one of the more common cancers that affect women. However, I feel like the media and medical community have really added fuel to that fire, and not always in the name of information, but in the name of profit.
In the end, you really have to do what is right for you and your beliefs, and take what others have to say with a grain of salt. It’s your body, listen to what it’s telling you, and listen to your experience and opinions.
