And that's exactly the problem, isn't it? We don't know exactly how to balance the cost of a few women's lives with the cost of the screening (whether in terms of anxiety, health or financial cost). This is why we struggle.
I think that the struggle is even more difficult when it has been hard to educate a population about a certain level of screening to start with. Getting women to do self-exams, for instance. It's taken decades to get even a percentage of women to do self-exams without fear or embarrassment. I am sure that those who have worked to teach this now feel like they've moved several steps backward.
I thought it might be interesting to see what the Susan G. Komen folks have to say about this. This is from their website:
"How should women respond to this news? Calmly. There has always been debate about whether or not to recommend routine screening mammography for women in their 40s. The focus of the debate is the balance of risks and benefits. The most important potential benefit of screening mammography is a modest reduction in breast cancer mortality. Potential risks of mammography include false-positive test results (which lead to stress and additional testing), false-negative test results (a missed cancer), and overdiagnosis. Overdiagnosis refers to the diagnosis of a cancer that will never cause health problems during the life of a patient. Overdiagnosis leads to unnecessary cancer treatment.
"For young women, the balance of risks and benefits is different than for older women, and may not clearly favor screening (although this point continues to be debated). Young women are more likely than older women to experience some of the downsides of mammographic screening, and are also less likely to have breast cancer.
"The fact that the USPSTF and the American Cancer Society now have different screening recommendations for women in their 40s simply reinforces the importance of educating yourself about the potential risks and benefits of screening, talking with your physician, and making the decision that’s right for you."
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Anon,
And that's exactly the problem, isn't it? We don't know exactly how to balance the cost of a few women's lives with the cost of the screening (whether in terms of anxiety, health or financial cost). This is why we struggle.
I think that the struggle is even more difficult when it has been hard to educate a population about a certain level of screening to start with. Getting women to do self-exams, for instance. It's taken decades to get even a percentage of women to do self-exams without fear or embarrassment. I am sure that those who have worked to teach this now feel like they've moved several steps backward.
I thought it might be interesting to see what the Susan G. Komen folks have to say about this. This is from their website:
"How should women respond to this news? Calmly. There has always been debate about whether or not to recommend routine screening mammography for women in their 40s. The focus of the debate is the balance of risks and benefits. The most important potential benefit of screening mammography is a modest reduction in breast cancer mortality. Potential risks of mammography include false-positive test results (which lead to stress and additional testing), false-negative test results (a missed cancer), and overdiagnosis. Overdiagnosis refers to the diagnosis of a cancer that will never cause health problems during the life of a patient. Overdiagnosis leads to unnecessary cancer treatment.
"For young women, the balance of risks and benefits is different than for older women, and may not clearly favor screening (although this point continues to be debated). Young women are more likely than older women to experience some of the downsides of mammographic screening, and are also less likely to have breast cancer.
"The fact that the USPSTF and the American Cancer Society now have different screening recommendations for women in their 40s simply reinforces the importance of educating yourself about the potential risks and benefits of screening, talking with your physician, and making the decision that’s right for you."
Here's the site:
http://ww5.komen.org/default.aspx
November 23, 2009 - 9:22amThis Comment
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