The volume of and variety of voices coming out on this topic has been really interesting. While there are certainly many sides to this, the real issue is that not enough is being done to help women help themselves in making the right moves to prevent and detect all cancers including breast cancer. This has only been an openly discussed topic for about 30 years and we need more information, not a dictate that reduces access to screening tools or forces women to self-identify as at high-risk for breast cancer and therefore increase their insurance premiums.
As a woman whose breast cancer was detected and treated successfully in my 30's, and who knows other women whose cancer was found via mammograms before the age of 50, I'm truly appalled at how narrow and confusing the information coming out on the recommendations has been. Experts say that the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, so the advice to wait until age 50 for screening could mean a death sentence for many women. This reminds me of the "old" days when women were told to do what they were told, and many of the things we were told to do were actually harmful. This discussion is far from over and there are many fights still to come in the days and weeks ahead.
Best regards,
Pat
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Hi Diane - Get ready for a fight? Indeed.
The volume of and variety of voices coming out on this topic has been really interesting. While there are certainly many sides to this, the real issue is that not enough is being done to help women help themselves in making the right moves to prevent and detect all cancers including breast cancer. This has only been an openly discussed topic for about 30 years and we need more information, not a dictate that reduces access to screening tools or forces women to self-identify as at high-risk for breast cancer and therefore increase their insurance premiums.
As a woman whose breast cancer was detected and treated successfully in my 30's, and who knows other women whose cancer was found via mammograms before the age of 50, I'm truly appalled at how narrow and confusing the information coming out on the recommendations has been. Experts say that the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease, so the advice to wait until age 50 for screening could mean a death sentence for many women. This reminds me of the "old" days when women were told to do what they were told, and many of the things we were told to do were actually harmful. This discussion is far from over and there are many fights still to come in the days and weeks ahead.
November 17, 2009 - 6:10pmBest regards,
Pat
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