Comments on: Squeeze Me Tight … Or Not

By: Catherine

Catherine — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:44:40 +0000

There has been such an intense negative reaction in the media to the release of the results of the meta analysis that I fear the opportunity for rational discussion has passed. A similar study ten years ago resulted in similar recommendations. A great hue and cry resulted and nothing changed and discusssion ceased.

Yes, the results seem counterintuitive, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t valid. We wise women deserve to hear both sides of the issue without panic and the overload of alarmist rhetoric.

As with the great estrogen/progesterone debate, we will have to do our own research and consult with our physicians as to which course of action makes sense for us. We have charge of our own bodies and ultimately we need to decide whether to we will follow the new, but now quashed, recommendations.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:43:26 +0000

I think it should be up to every woman and her doctor. I avoided a mammogram for as long as I could, until after age 45, and then my doctor wanted a baseline for future comparison. Since then I’ve had two mammograms, two to three years apart. I have no family history and have had no symptoms, so this protocol is what I have decided to follow.

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:08:39 +0000

This is an interesting one. One of the challenges I face as an American (with American biases) living in the UK, is that there are sometimes different health protocols here.

One example. Kids are not immunised for varicella/chicken pox here. However, every child on the island of Jersey (population 90,000) has now been offered the swine flu injection.

In the UK, women do not have routine mammograms until the age of 50. This is something I’ve always debated with my doctor, since my US bias is 40. My doctor has always calmly explained that unless there are specific indicative risk factors, it’s not necessary to subject myself to the extra rays! The wisdom here is that the vast majority of early detection comes from self-examinations, which would then be followed up by mammogram. So, I find it very interesting that the US may be raising the routine screening age to 50.

Similarly, pap smears here are only done every three years; which is different than the annual in the US.

So, while in “Rome” I am doing as the Romans do! Which suits me just fine since I once fainted during a mammogram (34A’s no picnic either!). However, I am doing so while having a dialog with my doctor which seems like really good advice from Susan G. Komen, since everyone is unique.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:11:53 +0000

I must say I had an emotionally negative reaction to the release of this study. I’m sure all of us have several friends or know of someone who’s had breast cancer. In my situation, I’ve seen many friends in their early 40’s detect clean one year and end up with advanced breast cancer the year after resulting in mastectomies. It seems so illogical to avert a preventative measure (mammos or self-exams)that is a top killer of women.