Mammograms?

Posted by Unknown On Saturday, October 19, 2013 0 comments
Today is the 20th anniversary of National Mammography Day. Back in 1993, it was Bill Clinton who proclaimed that the third Friday in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month should be a day for encouraging women to get a mammogram.

Twenty years ago, the benefits of mammograms—a low-dose x-ray that provides an image of breast tissue—weren’t nearly as hotly debated as they are today. Yes, it was uncomfortable to have your breasts squashed and flattened to get a good picture, but most people believed that for women 40 and up (and younger if they had a higher risk of breast cancer), an annual mammogram was smart preventive care.

Today—as with most things in the 21st century—there are differing, strong opinions on the subject. The debate first got heated when in 2009 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) changed its mammogram recommendations from age 40 and every year thereafter to age 50 and every other year for those not at an elevated risk. The American Cancer Society and The National Cancer Institute did not agree.

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