Mammograms are routine preventative care for many, but with countries like Switzerland saying they should be phased out altogether because of outdated clinical trials, benefits not clearly outweighing the harms, and women’s perceptions of mammography benefits not matching the reality, it may be time to take a closer look. Unless of course you like paying money just to go “looking for trouble…”
Consider this blog from Catherine at Butter Nutrition on why she won’t get a mammogram:
I’ve never had a mammogram, and today I’m going to tell you why I intend to keep it that way. As much as Western medicine considers mammograms “life saving” and perpetuates you would have to be “dumb” or “stupid” not to get one, I disagree. I’m going to challenge that with realistic downsides and questionable cancer paradigms. Just like YOU, I’ve had close family diagnosed and die of breast cancer, and I’m still not cheering for the mammogram.
Disclaimer: This is my personal opinion, and I am not suggesting anyone follow suit. I’m simply sharing what is right for me and why.
1) THE RESEARCH
Research suggests that mammograms help to detect early stage breast cancers, thus saving lives, but yet the trend of late stage diagnosed breast cancers remains unchanged. “But importantly, the number of cancers diagnosed at the advanced stage was essentially unchanged. If mammograms were really finding deadly cancers sooner (as suggested by the rise in early detection), then cases of advanced cancer should have been reduced in kind. But that didn’t happen. In other words, the researchers concluded, mammograms didn’t work.” –New York Times
2) MAMMOGRAMS HAVE DOWNSIDES, WHETHER OR NOT WESTERN MEDICINE WANTS YOU TO KNOW. INCLUDING:
- False positive results: This means you’re told the “dreaded” results, scared out of your mind, subject to more tests, and ongoing investigation, just to find out you DON’T actually have breast cancer. This can result in a huge scare, undue stress, emotional trauma, and unnecessary medical bills.
- False negative results: False negatives readings are common too, up to 15% of breast cancer cases are missed by a mammogram (source).
- Over diagnosis & overtreatment: The New England Journal of Medicine noted that breast cancer was over diagnosed in 31% of breast cancer cases. Ray Peat agrees that over diagnosis is a great concern, “The extensive use of mammograms has increased the diagnosis of “ductal carcinoma in situ” {DCIS} by more than 1000% (a 16- or 18-fold increase in some hospitals, and expected to double in the next decade), increasing the number of mastectomies and other treatments, but the increased treatments and early diagnosis haven’t produced any visible change in the death rate.” The national cancer institute says that DCIS cases are often over treated since they do not know whether or not the tumor will become cancerous. “Because doctors often cannot distinguish cancers and cases of DCIS that need to be treated from those that do not, they are all treated.” (source)
- Radiation exposure: Radiation exposure from mammograms is actually a known CAUSE of breast cancer! According to Ray Peat, PhD, “Estrogen and ionizing radiation are the most clearly documented causes of breast cancer. Their excitatory effects lead to inflammation, edema, fibrosis, and interruption of intercellular regulatory processes.”
- Curing people that don’t need to be cured: According to Dr. Otis Brawley, medical officer at the American Cancer Society told NBC News, “Some of those pea-sized lesions are not going to kill. Some of those pea-sized lesions are going to regress over time. We are curing people that don’t need curing.” Keep reading…
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