11/17/2009 7:00 am
Sheconomics
Will you change your mammogram routine given newly released guidelines?
The Preventive Services Task Force this week released new guidelines for mammograms, changing the recommended screening age from 40 to 50. Click here to read more about it. How will this affect your mammogram routine?
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46 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Annie
Those are great methods to keep your breasts healthy, and I ascribed and practice(d) most of those, but at one point I knew I would have to have a mammo because most doctors cannot read thermographs. If I hadn’t had one, I don’t know if I would be here today. Unfortunately, that is all they have. The medical industry continues to invest in that method of detection, therefore we are subject to it’s consequences. I don’t like it.
Deniseann
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 47, and I think the lump was there for awhile, because I went in to be checked for it and they said it was just a cyst. I heard that a couple of times so I didn’t follow up as much. I had a dream and in it my mother told me to get a mammogram. I didn’t remember it very well, but there was this nagging memory of this dream. Then I was watching the Rosie O’Donnell show and it was October and breast cancer prevention month and she was very emphatic - "If you haven’t had a mammogram for a while… (or something to that effect) do it now. Make your appointment!!" When I heard that I could hear my mother’s voice saying it again so I made an appointment with someone different and then I was diagnosed. I was very lucky because it had been in there longer than it should have been. It didn’t go into my lymph system or anywhere else. Thank God and my sweet angel that was helping me.
It is funny, politically I have very little in common with Rosie O’Donnell, but I will always appreciate her because she was in the right place at the right time for me. The funny thing is, I never watched her show that much, but that day I decided to.
Belinda
It doesn’t catch up with everyone. There is no breast cancer in my family. I have 6 sisters who have smoked, ate a lot of red meat, drink and other things, that I didn’t imbibe in a lot, but I am the only one that got it. So go figure. I asked my oncologist about it and he said that it was actually rare that it is passed down. That puzzled me. He said that only about 5% of cancer has some kind of genetic link. According to him, the genetic link idea is circulated a lot because it raises more money for research, he is a pretty well known oncologist in the LA area - pretty mainstream.
I only say this because as a survivor I know what it is like to have that "threat" shadowing me. It is no fun.
Peace and grace
I hear you Frannie, but every woman on my mother’s side of the family got it, dating back decades. Not to mention she died from it. So we must be one of those unlucky and rare families where there really is a genetic link.
It just kills me that scientist have not developed a definitive method of diagnosing it.
Belinda
I am sorry about that. That is a challenge. Do you take Co-enzyme Q-10? - I don’t usually give recommendations like that, but many times when there is a genetic link it could possibly be due to weakened mitochondria of the cell structure (the explanation is more complicated than that, but for me to remember enough of the terms to explain it would be a miracle). Anyway - Co-enzyme Q-10 contributes to protection of the cell’s mitochondria. Strong cell structure protects it from free radicals. CoQ10 is also great for your heart and skin cells and physical energy. Unfortunately, it is not cheap. After many studies they found that 380 mg per day prevents breast cancer. I cannot take that much, but definitely must have it.
Calcium D-Glucarate is very important because it detoxifies estrogen in the liver, so does DIM. There are beneficial and non-beneficial estrogens, just like beneficial and non-beneficial cholesterol - so as best you can through diet - go for the beneficial estrogens, like soy and flax seed oil. There are numerous others you can find on the internet.
Trying to figure out why I ended up with it nagged me for a while, but hey it happened. I do know that pesticides are estrogen based, and when there are "clusters" of breast cancer outbreaks, many times it is in areas that were heavily farmed. I lived in a rural area, and when I was placed with my new family, I stayed in that area and my sisters moved elsewhere. Another important factor is that between the ages of 14 and early 20’s young women’s estrogen absorption is erratic, but at a high level, so that is when it is important to make sure young girls are not exposed to high levels of estrogen through chemical sources.
Just passing on info, don’t know if any of it will help you, I just care.
Hmmmm let me see…..$10,000 give or take in office visits to my doctors for the last 30 years vs. 2 seconds of a blog exchange with a dear friend named Frannie I have never met. Which one did I learn more from? FRANNIE!
You are a Godsend. You have indeed given me a lot of information to now turn around and research. Far more than any physician I have ever seen. The only thing I am told by my doctors throughout the years is because every female has died directly or indirectly because of breast cancer in my family, it is imperative I be checked every year.
I have had the misdiagnosis 3 times in 10 years from basic mammograms, and thank God they were nothing. I am one of those women that would never handle and adjust to getting breast cancer, because I unfortunately tie my femininity and (to a big part sadly) my sexuality, to my breasts. I’m breast and legs and in my mind without those two attributes I wouldn’t feel feminine. And not all women are like that, I know women who have battled breast cancer and they spoke of it as something that needed to be taken out of their bodies to live (a healthy attitude) the fact that they were losing a breast was way down on the pecking order of concern.
I really mean it, thank you for taking the time to post the information. I’m big on being proactive, and with this information I can do just that.
Belinda
There are many really good books out that teach about phyto nutrients that will prevent BC. Yams, not sweet potatoes, peaches, tangerines, carrots and on and on, can’t remember them all, but just eat lots of fruits and vegetables because they are cancer preventive.
Hang in there and everyday new research delivers more information about prevention. ;-)
P.s Belinda
I love my doctors, but they have a protocol and that is what they stick to. They are not taught nutrition and kind of scoff at it, so I knew that I would have to do that myself. Doctors are great, but they kind of just stick to the business they know.