Radiologists often rely on specialized “CAD” computer software to find suspicious areas in mammograms.
But studies also reveal that the technology has failed to improve breast cancer detection. In fact, it increases a woman’s risk of getting a “false positive” result and being told she has an abnormal mammogram when she’s actually cancer-free.
The study analyzed 1.6 million mammograms taken between 1998 and 2006. Some experts say that in light of this evidence, radiologists should use more discretion in interpreting CAD results. According to CNN:
“CAD is now used in roughly three of every four screening mammograms … The detection rate for noninvasive breast abnormalities improved at radiology facilities that adopted CAD technology, but, crucially, the rate did not improve for invasive breast cancers, the dangerous type that invade healthy tissue in the breast or other parts of the
Should mammograms be the preferred screening method at all?
Time and again, studies published in prestigious medical journals have shown that mammograms are not the best way for early detection of breast cancer. For example:
- Mammograms can miss up to a third or more of all breast cancers depending on the composition of your breast tissue and the type of cancer.
- Mammography and its subsequent tests, such as MRI’s and biopsies, may actually cause cancer.
- False positives (i.e. a diagnosis of cancer that turns out to be non-cancerous) are causing women needless anxiety, pain and (often) invasive, disfiguring surgical procedures. This is the MAJOR danger of mammography, as it radically increases the number of women who will be misdiagnosed and pressured into a system that very often harms them unnecessarily – without addressing what caused the
- Using CAD computer software to locate suspicious areas in mammograms can’t improve breast cancer detection; it can actually increase your risk of getting a “false positive” result!
- Radiation-induced DNA damage, e.g. irreparable double-strand DNA breaks pose a real risk to many women.
- Using mammography as a tool for early detection and “prevention” of cancer may in fact do far more harm than good. Women are mostly oblivious of the risks; thus they can’t make valid informed choices regarding the procedure. Surprisingly, many mammography-related devices have been approved without any scientific evidence to back up their safety and effectiveness.
- We leave the last word to Samuel Epstein in the International Journal of Health Services in 2001: “Mammography screening is a profit-driven technology posing risks compounded by unreliability… Mammography is not a technique for early diagnosis. In fact, a breast cancer has usually been present for about eight years before it can finally be detected.”
1 Article taken from http://www.mercola.com/
Another wake-up call from us regarding the dangers of mammograms! We want you to ponder the alternative we offer with our totally safe, completely non-invasive scanning system. Please see our articles on this before you decide on having a conventional mammogram screening. Empower yourself with solid information!
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“You need sound information to make sound choices”