Mammograms - Increased Cure and Survival?
|
|
Early diagnosis of breast cancer by mammographic screening produces higher rates of cure and longer survival times without actually increasing the number of women cured nor lengthening their lives. How can that be? It's sleight of hand with numbers.
Survival, when it comes to breast cancer statistics, is defined as being alive five years after the diagnosis of cancer. Cure is defined as being disease-free five years after diagnosis. A women who dies of breast cancer more than five years after her diagnosis can still be included in statistics as a "cure."
A woman with a slow-growing metastasizing breast cancer will live, on the average, 15 years after the cancer's inception. A mammogram can detect a slow-growing breast cancer when it is about eight years old. (15 - 8 = 7 more years to live.) If this woman dies seven years after her diagnosis, she will be counted as "cured" because she lived for more than 5 years.
The same slow-growing metastasizing breast cancer will be 11 or 12 years from its inception when noticed by a woman who neither touches her breasts regularly nor has mammograms. (Women who do regular breast self-exam or breast self-massage usually notice a slow-growing cancer nine years after its inception, just one doubling bigger than visible to a mammogram.) This woman will live as long as the woman whose cancer was discovered by screening mammogram, but won't be "cured" because she didn't live for five more years. (15 - 11 = 4 years).
The cure is only a statistic. There is no difference in the number of years lived after the inception of the cancer, no difference in the length of life, only a difference in number of years lived after diagnosis.
AREN'T MAMMOGRAMS LIFE SAVING FOR WOMEN OVER 55?
In several studies, yearly mammograms of women aged 55 and older reduced breast cancer mortality by one-third. But this doesn't mean any one woman's risk is reduced by one-third according to Dr. Peter Skrabenek, a critic of mass screening. Furthermore, the women enrolled in these very successful mammographic studies received regular physical examination of their breasts, which - by itself, without risk - reduces breast cancer mortality. The vast majority of breast cancers found in older women are slow-growing, non-metastasizing, and not life-threatening, no matter when they're found.
IS THERE A LESS RISKY WAY TO PARTICIPATE IN SCREENING MAMMOGRAPHY?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the national health plans of England, Holland, Italy, and Sweden, recommend screening mammography no more than every two years and only after menopause. Several studies show no advantage to yearly mammograms. Once every two or three years confers the same decrease in five-year mortality, with less radiation hazard to individuals and society, and at far less cost.
ARE THERE OTHER WAYS TO FIND EARLY-STAGE BREAST CANCERS?
In addition to physical examination and breast self-massage, thermography and ultrasound are safe tests available to women who wish to avoid mammograms. Thermography gives a picture of the heat patterns in the breasts (cancers are hotter than the surrounding tissues). Ultrasound bounces sound waves off the breast tissues to measure their density (cancer is denser than the surrounding tissues). Other techniques used to image breast tissues, such as digital mammography and scintimammography rely on radioactivity and are inherently unsafe.
IF YOU DECIDE TO HAVE A MAMMOGRAM
Get the best, even if it means a long journey.
Go where they specialize, preferably where they do at least 20 mammograms a day.
Be sure the facility is accredited by the American College of Radiology.
Insist on personnel who specialize in mammograms. (Taking and reading mammograms are skills that require intensive training and a lot of practice.)
Ask how old the equipment is. Newer equipment exposes the breasts to less radiation. A dedicated unit (one specifically for mammograms) is best.
Ask how they ensure quality control. When was their unit calibrated?
Load your blood with carotenes for a week before the mammogram to prevent radiation damage to your DNA.
Expect to be cold and uncomfortable during the mammogram, but do say something if you're being hurt.
The more compressed the breast tissue, the clearer the mammogram. (But pressure may spread cancer cells if they're present.)
If your breasts are tender, reschedule. During your fertile years, schedule mammograms for 7-10 days after your menstrual flow begins.
Don't wear antiperspirant containing aluminum; it can interfere with the imaging process. (Those clear stones do contain aluminum, as do most commercial antiperspirants.)
If you want another opinion, you'll need the original mammographic films, not copies. (X-ray facilities only keep films for 7 years.)
Get your doctor to agree, in writing, before the procedure, to give you a copy of your mammogram. The U.S. Public Health Service advises women to ask for written results from a mammogram.
Given the high percentage of "false normal" mammograms, if you think you have cancer, trust your intuition.
Remove radioactive isotopes from your body with burdock root, seaweed, or miso.
Mammograms don't promote breast health. Breast self-massage, breast self-exam, and lifestyle changes do.
Women find their own breast cancers most of the time (90% of the time according to one English study).
Monthly breast self-exam (or breast self-massage) provides early detection at lower cost, with no danger - and more pleasure - than yearly screening mammograms.
Most breast cancers (80%) are slow growing, taking between 42 and 300 days to double in size. A yearly mammogram could find these cancers 8-16 months before they could be felt, but this "early detection" does little to improve the already excellent longevity of women with slow-growing, non-metastasized breast cancers.
The 20% of breast cancers that are fast growing are the trouble-makers. They can double in size in 21 days. Monthly breast self-exams are much more likely to find these aggressive cancers than are yearly mammograms. (A 21-day doubling cancer will be visible on a mammogram only six weeks before it can be felt.) If you massage or examine your breasts even six times a year, you can take action on fast-growing lumps. If you rely on mammograms exclusively, the cancer could grow undetected for months.
In a recent look at 60,000 breast cancer diagnoses in the United States, 67% were found by the woman or her doctor - and over half of these were not visible on a mammogram - while 33% were discovered by mammogram. (This may seem like a substantial number of cancers found by mammography, but the majority of them were in situ cancers, a controversial type of cancer that may - but often does not - progress to invasive cancer.)
Green Blessings.
About the Author
Susun Weed PO Box 64 Woodstock, NY 12498 Fax: 1-845-246-8081 Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.ashtreepublishing.com Vibrant, passionate, and involved, Susun Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition. She challenges conventional medical approaches with humor, insight, and her vast encyclopedic knowledge of herbal medicine. Unabashedly pro-woman, her animated and enthusiastic lectures are engaging and often profoundly provocative. Susun is one of America's best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world.
Rating: Not yet rated