Why Women Don't Get Mammograms

 Sidestepping screening: What factors make women avoid annual mammography?

Breast cancer has the highest incidence and mortality rates worldwide, and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for women in the United States. While mammography is far from perfect, it remains the best screening tool available for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

But studies show that about one in four women, forty and older, have not had a mammogram within the last two years. That figure is even worse for low-income women, with 40% admitting that they have never stepped within a few feet of the bucky. A recent study out of New Hampshire revealed that more than one-third of the women in that state who are eligible for mammography have either never had the breast cancer screening test or have not been tested in more than two years (Cancer, September 12, 2005).

This is despite the enthusiastic efforts by breast cancer screening advocacy groups to promote screening and boost awareness (American Cancer Society, May 9, 2005).

Of course, the issue is too complicated to attempt to summarize in a single shot. Still, breast imaging experts agree that certain broader obstacles continue to plague cancer screening programs and continue to keep women out of screening facilities.

Personal experience

Chances are that every woman knows at least one person in her life who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, treated for breast cancer, or, worst of all, had a breast cancer scare. And if it happened to a friend (or even a friend of a friend), why couldn't the same fate befall her? As a result, many women subscribe to the "ignorance is bliss" school of thought. Getting an annual mammogram would then be akin to actively searching for a problem, pointed out Dr. Daniel Kopans, director of breast imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The possibility of breast cancer is scary enough; the process of getting a mammogram only adds to that anxiety, he said.

For a woman who has undergone screening, one bad experience -- in the form of a false-positive mammogram or a benign biopsy -- can make for a lifetime of aversion, according to Dr. Carol Kornmehl a radiation oncologist in Ridgewood, NJ, and the author of The Best News About Radiation Therapy


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Buying The Right Health Insurance Plan? Read This

 It is rightly said that necessity is the mother of invention. This applies to health insurance also. Deteriorating lifestyle patterns and the rising cost of health care in United States has paved way for health insurance services. This need has further aggravated by the fact that unlike the West, the social security systems are non-existent in India. The governments have made all the provisions to extract tax from the citizens at all possible points but when it comes to health care and social security, it has not done anything at all. Thus, it is the responsibility of the citizen to secure himself. But it is not that smooth to get the right health insurance policy. There are over two dozen general insurance companies which are offering different types of health insurance plans in United States . Many times, people end up buying health insurance plans which are not relevant for them and which do not help them during the time of need. Therefore, it bears crucial si...
Read more

X-ray Scan of the Brain in Simple Words

  The MRI Scan is the contracted type of attractive reverberation imaging filter which is an imaging procedure utilized to check the cerebrum , head and such areas for appropriate clinical assessment. The strategy includes the utilization an attractive field alongside radio innovation that helps take pictures of the cerebrum . These pictures are deciphered for strange developments , inside harm due mishaps, or dangerous growths. The data that can be gotten from this technique is by and large not accessible from other system like the CT check, X-beam or ultrasound . It is consequently a significant operation which gives important data about the patient. The MRI Scan of the cerebrum is finished in a gadget called the MRI Scanner . The whole interaction is effortless and the individual feels no distress . The patient to be inspected will be approached to rests on a table like piece of the scanner. The scanner resembles a passage. When the patient is made to set down on a sup...
Read more

Your Family's Vision Insurance Information

Being  responsible for a family can include a  plethora  of tasks and can take up  important  time to organize all the insurance  programs  and papers to  ensure  that every family member has  access  to medical, dental, and vision care when it's  demanded .  Chancing  a good family insurance agency is important to the family as an estimable  insurance company will help the family to have  protection  over  means , property, life insurance, and quality  health insurance . Numerous  people assume that dental and vision insurance falls under a good health insurance plan. In some cases, this is true; but this isn't always the case....
Read more