A review ordered by the British Department of Health concluded that women who get mammograms are at risk for “over-diagnosis,” according to a group of Danish scientists.
As many as 30% of all women who get a mammogram may be getting a false report, therefore enduring unnecessary cancer treatment such as chemo-therapy and surgery. They also found that for every 2000 women age 50 to 70 who are screened for 10 years, one will be saved from dying of breast cancer while several will have had unnecessary treatment. In addition, a survey suggested that out of 479 women, only 7% were aware that some cancers grow so slowly that even without treatment, it would not be of harm to a woman’s health, which had not been brought to the attention of women prior to their screenings.
Mammograms have long been a recommended procedure to detect breast cancer. It is worth noting that women in the Untied States are much more aggressively screened for breast cancer compared with women in Great Britain. The recommended age to begin screening for Americans is 40 and the frequency is once per year. British women are recommended to get their first screening at the age of 50, and not to get them but once every three years. The aforementioned statistics could explain these differences.
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