HealthMedicine

Mammography. Risks And Benefits

It's no secret that cancer is a dangerous disease that seriously threatens life. Cancer can develop from almost any type of cell in our body. Breast tissue, of course, is no exception to this sinister rule.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women from 44 to 55 years in the United States. Of course, as with many other diseases, breast cancer is better diagnosed at an early stage than trying to cure it at a later stage.

To diagnose breast cancer , a special procedure known as "mammography" is used. A mammogram is a procedure in which a so-called "mammogram" is performed - an x-ray of the chest, on which suspicious seals and tumors can be detected that can not be detected by manual examination. The benefits of such a survey seem to us indisputable, especially in light of the fact that finding a tumor at an early stage of development increases the chances of overcoming the disease by at least 17%.

The method of mammography was not invented yesterday, and this procedure has changed quite a lot since then, becoming not only more technically perfect, but also much more accurate. However, over time, the mammography has a kind of opposition, arguing that not everything is so cloudless.

A number of such critics argue that mammography as a measure of tumor diagnosis is not so effective. Moreover, they claim that mammography has its risks. In Sweden, an analysis of the results of mammographic studies conducted in 600,000 women, during which it was found that 70% of the "tumors" found on mammograms ... were not tumors!

But this, as you have probably already understood, is not only emotional and financial stress. This is still completely useless biopsy procedures! In fact, from 70 to 80 percent of mammographic examinations that revealed the presence of a cancerous tumor were not confirmed by the results of a biopsy! A good diagnosis of breast cancer, do not say anything!

At the same time, we can not fail to mention the fact that mammography can easily "miss" a tumor. For every tenth woman over 50 years of age, mammography misses alarming symptoms. In addition, the breast of young women is more dense, which also negatively affects the effectiveness of mammograms.

Some critics still mammogram for radiation. However, this is a long-standing question, since the controversy was heard back in 1976, when the dose of radiation for one scan was approximately 5-10 times greater than now. Nevertheless, scientists argue that every extra rad (an extra-system unit for measuring the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation) increases the risk of breast cancer in women aged 35 to 50 by ... 1%.

In other words, the average mammographic examination conducted once a year increases the risk of breast cancer by 2%! Arithmetic is simple: 5 years - 10%, 10 years - 20%. But, one way or another, and the debate about the advisability of using ionizing radiation in medicine has not ceased long enough. And this concerns not only mammographic examinations - the same applies to other branches of medicine, including dentistry.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning the opinion of some experts who believe that conducting a mammogram during pregnancy will negatively affect a child's health, increasing the risk of his leukemia, not to mention all the congenital malformations.

So do not blindly believe in mammograms. Trust but check!

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