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BLOG: February 2011 Minimizing breast cancer risk 6 Choices for breast cancer prevention: conclusion
It is not possible to avoid exposure to carcinogens. Your only hope is that your exposure remains low, and that your detox and immune function is efficient. But, that's the catch 22: they only can work efficiently if all other vital functions do, from digestion to elimination...
If we are sure of something, it is that we are not
sure whether mammographic screening of healthy women produces
significant benefit, or not. And what we are becoming nearly
certain of, is that the risk of harm is significant. Decade and a half after
Wright and
Mueller did their analysis, we still pretty much arrive at their conclusion,
which is that
the case for overall benefit from mammography screening
It boils down to mammography nearly guaranteeing breast cancer
detection before it advances to stage 4, and making it very
unlikely that it won't be detected before it advances to stage 3.
In other words, in the final outcome - mortality rate from
breast cancer - the positive of mammographic screening
seems to
be largely offset by its negatives.
The notion that public
screening has to produce significant benefit inevitably led to
its negatives being downplayed and neglected. The need for
"something" that will help, coupled with the seeming
undisputable benefit of public screening, was instrumental in it
becoming a "success story". The benefit was expected, reinforced
and supported by all those actively participating in some way in
creating this conjecture: researchers, public officials,
mammography medicine (radiology, related testing and
procedures), mammography industry and women themselves,
selectively embracing perceived safety of an early detection.
Now, as this view of mammography, under closer scrutiny of
the research and the actual data, begins to crumble, we are gradually moving toward one that is more
balanced. It is nearly certain that, for decades,
the benefits of public
mammography screening were overrated, and its negatives
downplayed and neglected.
We'll probably keep hearing, for some time, from the official
and pro-screening medical circles, that the life-saving benefits of
mammography outweigh the risks by a wide margin. But the
evidence is turning against such picture.
The most recent
development - and that is a good news - is the growing consensus
that women haven't been properly informed about the risks and
benefits of mammography screening as a breast cancer detection
tool. Nor have they been properly informed of their
alternatives.
There is no informed consent, without the patient knowing
the good, the bad, and the alternatives. In short, the
new tendency is that women recommended precautionary mammographic
screenings need to know the whole story.
The first part of it, the good
and the bad, are covered in the mammography pages. The alternatives to
mammography as a precautionary measure are considered in the
next, and last section, focused on minimizing the risk from getting
breast cancer. YOUR BODY ┆ HEALTH RECIPE ┆ NUTRITION ┆ TOXINS ┆ SYMPTOMS |