Mammograms

967 Words2 Pages

“Estimated to be diagnosed in 1 of every 8 women in their lifetime, breast cancer continues to present a public health concern (Haber 2322)”. Breast cancer is not biased. It affects men and women of all races and ages. “Cancer represents 30% of the burden posed by no communicable diseases in the Region of the Americas of the World Health Organization (Luciani, Silvana 640)”. In men it affects less than 1 percent of the population. Routine mammograms and checkups are not only healthy but can also save lives. Giving the doctor thirty minutes of your time could ultimately mean the difference between life and death in some cases.
Many people think if they do not feel any lumps in their breasts there is nothing to worry about. That is not always the case. “Mammography remains the “golden standard” screening method for women…and reliably identifies malignant tumors, especially those that are too small to feel (“Advances in breast imaging”). “Checking one’s own breasts for lumps or other unusual changes is called a breast self-exam, or BSE. This type of exam cannot replace regular screening mammograms or clinical breast exams. In clinical trials, BSE alone was not found to help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer (cancer.gov)”. Mammograms are necessary because performing a self-exam does not always find what is there. Although self-breast exams have been known to catch lumps in the breast, mammograms have found more due to the fact that they can detect very small cancer much sooner than self-breast exams can. Also not very many people know how to correctly administer a self-breast exam. It is recommended that if you do perform self-exams you should also get routine mammograms. If you rely solely on self-exams, it may be too la...

... middle of paper ...

...view. Mammograms have been more painful in the past because of older technology. Today it requires less pressure on the breast, and can be personalized to cut down on pain. Fourth, they save lives.
“The American Cancer Society estimates that, in 2010, about 207,000 women developed invasive breast cancer; 54,010 developed non-invasive breast cancer…And yet 90% of the women who are diagnosed with breast cancer this year will probably be cured following initial treatment (Bluming 133)”. “Mammography techniques are improving too, Newer scans in development, such as molecular breast imaging and tomosynthesis (which creates a three-dimensional image of the breast) may soon improve the accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis and reduce the risk of false positive results (“Do you…”)”. So ask yourself, what would it hurt to get mammograms? They could potentially be a life saver.

Open Document